Bite the Stars [Stray Cat Strut X Warhammer 40K]

Chapter Twenty-Four - Anvil"Ma'am, more of them!" a voidsman shouted."Good!" Octavia replied. "Let them come to us! We'll purge them all the same! Better than sneaking off to hide. Come on, you heretical mutants, die like men!" She turned, levelled her Micro Thermolytic Projector down the corridor, and fired. A wash of heat pushed the dusty air away, then the front row of genestealers melted while she cackled in glee. Her well-considered plan to follow the voidsmen around and kill mutants wherever they went had worked out perfectly... for her.For the voidsmen, maybe not so much.Someone above them had realized that wherever this squad in particular went, the enemy died a horrifying, fiery death. That meant that they were being sent here and there and everywhere to meet the enemy's charge and blunt their attack.The voidsmen following her had, broadly, three reactions to that. The first creeped her out: that was those that got a little... religious about it. Sure, burning mutants was fun and all, and it got her heart pumping, but she wasn't having an orgasmic revelation about it. Some of these guys were chanting and praying so hard they might have passed for Sisters of Battle if they replaced their navy-blue trousers with skirts. The second group were the more even-tempered. They were being professional, or at least quiet about the whole thing. Fortunately, the sergeant and the Vox-operator both fit into that category.Then there were those that Octavia knew just hated her guts. Probably because she was dragging them deeper into more dangerous areas. Other teams they passed had orders to stand still and guard a passage or a particularly important room. Actually, that was a whole other issue. Orders weren't coming in as quickly as before. They'd been sent here, to one of the secondary arteries of the ship that led down into the lower decks a while ago, and then nothing. Fortunately, the enemy were happy to show up in numbers to keep the boredom at bay."Ma'am! Ogryn!""Uh?" Octavia asked. She let go of the trigger, which proved to be a mistake as a huge shadow flung itself forwards. A genestealer, one with two heads on the same shoulders and who was roaring in anger.She raised her gun to fire, then gasped as the genestealer smacked it aside with a length of pipe. Then he shoulder checked her. She stumbled back, then fell into her training, delivering a power-armour assisted left hook into the monster's side that definitely cracked something under his thick skin.He tackled her anyway, and she crashed onto her back. There was more training for this, but a hip-check wasn't enough to dislodge the brute, not with the amount of mass on him. She flinched when he brought his pipe down, only to grin when it bounced off of a golden dome around her head. He tossed the pipe aside and raised a fist instead.Moving quickly, she brought an arm around and let him deliver a hard punch right into her armoured elbow. He howled in pain, but kept on punching, delivering blow after blow into her armoured chest.Octavia squirmed and started to punch back, but the angles were all wrong.Then lasfire came, and the brute grunted as multiple shots smashed into him from several directions. The sergeant came over and delivered a final shot with a Navis heavy shotgun that ripped the mutant's head off. She grunted as the body was pulled off of her and tossed aside. "Thanks.""No problem, ma'am," the sergeant said. "Are you well?"Octavia stood, then checked herself over. The armour wasn't even dented, and even as she watched, the ogryn's blood was spilling off of the cloth parts as though they were hydrophobic for blood and brain matter."Looks like I'm alright," Octavia said. "Emperor protects!" "The Emperor protects!" the more fanatical shouted. "I saw that glow, ma'am," the sergeant said. He licked his lips. "Are you... are you a saint?""What? You know that saints don't go around telling people that they're saints," Octavia said. "That'd be... like you going around telling people that you're a sergeant.""But I... am?""Uh," Octavia said. She looked away so that her saintly blush wouldn't show. The corridor was cleared. "I need to pray, please give me some space," she said.There wasn't much they could say to that, and after seeing how badass she was, they gave her plenty of room. Still, she appreciated it. Dropping to one knee, she clasped her hands into the sign of the aquila and bowed her head. "Oh, great God Emperor, uh," she began. "I need a big fucking sword, and a bolter, and like, a place to hang my other gun, if it's not all busted up. Please and thank you, amen."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. "I feel like I ought to point out that I'm not your Emperor, and I'm not affiliated with him in any way."

"Oh, God Emperor... it's less sus this way.""Sure. Let me update your point totals."Kills Confirmed: 41x Genestealers New Point Total: 449

"Nice," Octavia muttered. "I really do need a melee option. And a Bolter?""I see. Any particular desires with regards to both?"Octavia worked her jaw and thought. "Light? And strong. Obviously. Uh, but also, I'd like something that no one can steal. I... am a pinch worried about what the others might say when they see me.""I see. Are we still operating under the plan to appear as an Imperial Saint?""What do you know about those?" Octavia asked."Only everything that was held in any of the cogitator databanks and books onboard The Broken Scale. Beyond that, not very much.""Right, well... we can fake it a little, but once they bring out the actually holy relics, I'm dead. If they find out what you are, I'm also dead.""Do you have a plan?"Octavia grinned. "My favourite plan. Refuge in audacity!""Do you have a plan?""Hey!" she hissed, then remembered that she was being observed. A peek out of the corner of her eye revealed some of the more fanatical sorts were also praying... while facing her. Great. "Let's just roll with it?""Very well. I don't predict any issues with that plan for the near future, at least. Now, as for your weapons. You don't have a good catalogue for them. I'm going to suggest two. The first is Advanced Genelocking. It'll cost 100 points and prevent anyone but you from using one of your weapons at a moderate increase in their cost.""Steep," she muttered. "But okay.""The next is Basic Imperial Weaponry. That catalogue holds all of the more common weapons used by the Imperium of Man. 50 points. Before you ask, yes, it has bolters and chainswords. It won't have the rarer items, such as Volkite weapons."She was almost salivating. "Okay, good good, gimme!"New Purchase: Advanced GenelockingPoints Reduced to: 349New Purchase: Basic Imperial WeaponryPoints Reduced to: 299"Now, as for your weapons...""Big sword, big bolter," she confirmed with a quick nod."... Fine. Since you don't seem to have any other priorities, let's not make these cheap."New Purchase: The Edge of PenitencePoints Reduced to: 159New Purchase: Litany of MercyPoints Reduced to: 39Octavia raised her eyes when several soldiers, even the more pragmatic ones, gasped.The corridor was filled with a harsh golden-blue glow, one that illuminated the blood-stained walls and the corpses strewn about in harsh contrast. The source of that light was two weapons, simply floating there, the way weapons didn't. Octavia rose to her feet and had to resist the urge to giggle. The chainsword, from tip to hilt, was long enough that it would reach her breast if she placed it tip-down on the ground. It was black and grey, with a fleur-de-lys imprinted on the side and a beautiful blue gradient that matched the colours of her order.The bolter was a chunky gal, though the sides were curved slightly. Again, there were lines of a pale blue running across it, and it had silver flowers and leaves raised off the surface. "They are both genelocked. No one but you can move them. Otherwise, they remain spatially locked, the coordinates matched to nearby surfaces. Both are made of strong but light alloys. The bolter is designed to accept Imperium-standard rounds. The chainsword has its own internal fuel source that won't decay for several millennia even if operating at full capacity.""Nice," she said. She plucked the shiny weapons out of the air and the glow immediately started to fade. She swung the sword experimentally. It felt good, like the weight was just right, and the grip was designed for her slightly smaller-than-average hands.She turned to the others, who were staring, gobsmacked."Well? The Emperor provides and all that. Did anyone see my melta? And where're the other enemies at? I haven't filled my mutant burning quota for the week yet!"***