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Into the Darkness

Krane had been informed that there was a new factory opened in area 27. It was a long way out, but the monetary gains were substantial. So Krane marched with his troops to the factory and entered one of it's doors. It was dark inside and the Juves complained about somekind monsters in the shadows.

"Mutantshit!" said sergeant Guss and raised his flamer. "Any monster trying anything will get from this baby!"

The factory was huge and time was against them. Soon there would be more gangs trying to gain loot and shootouts were expected when there wouldn't be enough loot for everybody. This was a 'snatch-n-grab' -operation, so Krane split his team into two. Dash and Hal would support the two teams after lights were lit. The second teams primary order was to lit the lights and secondary order was to loot as much as possible. Krane and his squad would concentrate on looting. Chronowrists were adjusted and when the counter was out, it would be time to get out.

In the darkness it was hard to see anything and Krane didn't want to fumble down from the walkways. So movement was painfully slow. Some noise was heard as machinery was awakening. To his amazement the bridges were moving and he could see as the other team tried to balance themselves on the moving platforms. This mission was getting more difficult every minute.

Krane's thoughts were disrupted by a hot blue plasmaballs. Two out of three missed him, but third one hit him straight in the chest. It hurt as hell but it didn't burn through him. To his amazement Krane was alive. Hurt, but alive. Then he saw them: Those f*cking metallic creatures.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

As he said that, his troopers advanced and opened fire. They managed to hit them, but any injury was anyone's guess in this darkness. One shot strayed and hit one of their own on the bridge. It hit him in the back and he was downed. Krane saw that his hands started to shake again, but luckily it was hard to see in the darkness. He ordered his team to advance the enemy position and to lit the lights, so that they could get some support. One trooper managed to pass the bridge before it started to move. Those left on the bridge lost their balance and fell. One of them hit his head hard and was unconscious. Another plasmashot was fired, but this time there were a bigger flash in the darkness as the plasmaweapon overheated and exploded.

The operation was getting f*cked and the second squad was attacked by one of those shredding machines. There was a scream as one Juve was shredded and bridges kept turning. Without light they were badly outmatched and when thinking what to do next Krane was hit by a bullet. He lost his balance and fell down the ledge, but managed to fall into his feet. Hurting and bleeding he was joined by two wounded troopers carrying those out of action. One was the guy who managed to get over the bridge, but it seemed he lost his balance when shot at and fell.

The situation was getting from bad to worse. Right then and there Krane made his decision: Fall back! They were too late to loot anything and he wished good luck for anyone facing those murderous machines here. They managed to get all out, but the Juve who got attacked sustained a serious head injury from the fall.

Back at the Command Compound the morale was low. They got their ass whipped, twice against those automatons. Private Vance tried to raise morale by giving an inspiring speech. Everyone were moved by it, even Krane. Krane felt envious, since he couldn't make that good a speech as Vance did. He would keep an eye, the healthy one, on Vance. In case he tries to overthrown him.

Payback Time

There had been a lack of "respect" from area 9 and Krane and his troops were there to "restore order", so to say. There was a need for a show of force and Krane surely would deliver it. The area was somewhat contested, although no gang was willing to spend any manpower to gain control of the area. Area 9 was a wasteland and had no strategic nor tactical value to anyone. So nearby gangs had an unvoiced agreement to share some "security duty" in the area for credits. But resently area 9 had refrained from their weekly payments to Krane. So it was time to remind the good denizens of the area 9 about their "duty" and the price of peace.

The first thing Krane and his troopers did was to shoot a hail of bullets to the local ratburgerjoint. Heavy stubber spit an immense amount of lead towards the building, making some more holes to the walls. Shotguns and autoguns joined the shooting and soon the building collapsed. Nearby civilians scattered in fear and the owner of the burgerjoint emerged from the ruins.

But as Krane was about to advance deeper into the area, sergeant Dash opened fire and the hail of bullets poured between buildings towards a lonely person on an overpass. "Enemy contact!" Dash yelled between bursts and Krane realized that there was another gang doing the same thing as he was. That raised a question. Why would area 9 stop paying to their "protectors"? As Krane pondered this question, he heard a yell behind him. The bridge that sergeant Guss and his squad was taking started to move and they tried to regain their balance. But alas, they didn't and Krane watched as they fell from the moving bridge.

The Juves were advancing and dealing harsh judgement towards nearby civilians. Suddenly a burst of bullets hit one of the juves, who lost his balance and fell from great heights down to the darkness. This sudden hail of bullets was too much for the another juve, who panicked and run past Melchor. The bullets followed the juve and as he passed Melchor, they hit him. With the sudden blow from the juve and the bullets, Melchor lost his balance and fell one floor down.

Krane managed to have a brief glimpse of the shooter. It was a Mechanicum Arbiter! That was the reason why the payments had dried up! Suddenly Krane was shot at from the side. The bullet missed him, but the sudden surprise had him grasping for balance. His chainsword and shotgun drew him down and Krane felled from the ledge. He hitted the concrete slab chest first and was out of air. As he gathered himself he heard that private Vance took control of the situation with his charisma. Krane was waiting Vance to lead a charge against the enemy and showing him to be better leader than Krane was, but surprisingly Vance ordered a general retreat.

"The bastard leaves me here and takes control of MY army! Sneaky bastard." But surprisingly Krane felt a hand grabbing him. As he raised his eye towards the owner of the hand, it was Vance. He had came to rescue him! As Vance dragged Krane out of the battle, he also fired his autogun to suppress any incoming enemy.

Back at HQ Krane was sure that Vance is loyal to him. This gave some much-needed boost on self-esteem as he has managed to instill loyalty to his troopers that was beyond anything he had hoped. But the area 9 is under Arbiter control and considered lost. Some credits were obtained from the area as a last payment. But Krane didn't want to spend any more resources or manpower to that insignificant area. Let the Arbiters have it!