Icelus Assault
This story, part of the community effort on the Emperor's Nightmare chapter, shows the power of the Icelus pattern, even when not operating in a purely stealth function. (By anon)
- Death rained down on all. Shas'La Nyr saw his commanding officer torn apart by the thousands of strikes which fell upon them. His squadmates were helpless as the cover they sought disintegrated under the assault cannon fire. There was nowhere to hide, and their combat armor was like paper in the face of the onslaught. Nyr felt the rounds hit him, penetrating through his flesh and out the other side to bury themselves deep in the dirt. He could do nothing but sink to the ground as his blood ran down his armor to pool under him.
- Yet as he laid there dying he could think of nothing but the sheer surreal quality of the scene around him. In all the carnage, there was no sound. There had been no warning, no telltale whining of the heavy cannons spinning up. Even as they had been torn apart the only sound to be heard was the whistle of flying rounds, cut off in sick thumps as they found their targets. The other fire warriors had not cried out. Nyr mused idly that perhaps most of them had been dead before they could have thought to.
- Laying on his side now, Nyr could partially see the carnage around him. Some part of his mind realized that a hole must have been punctured through his helmet, but such facts seemed so distant now. He saw the heavy armored boot of one of the Gue'la walkers land silenty, barely disturbing the valley floor. Such an impossibility seemed to fit perfectly in the dream world Nyr found himself in. The deep purple machine strode across the killing ground, pivoting from side to side to ensure that the entire patrol had been accounted for. Another walker joined it, and together they moved off into the forest to vanish like the ghosts Nyr knew them to be. As his vision faded, he realized he could hear the birds in the treetops again.