Chương 23: Chapter Twenty-Two - Stalkers

Alexis was still messing around with her new arm, flexing her hand open and closed while waiting for the enemy to show up. She had told KYS to watch the back of the corridor, but had also sprayed a line across the ground, creating a hump that any genestealers would have to climb over if they hoped to ambush her from the rear. Her friends shifted, and she refocused on the front. Across the heap of bleeding and dead genestealers at the end of the corridor were more of the enemy.

She grabbed one of the lasrifles and checked it over, making sure it was on the right setting for in-ship use. She didn't want to accidentally burn a hole through a bulkhead or damage the ship, after all. The genestealers seemed a little hesitant, even as the group grew and gained more members. She noticed that at least two of them were massive, big brutes that towered over the others and who were almost as wide as she was tall.

Some of the others in the mix had more pronounced mutations as well, foreheads that were covered in ridges, heads that were elongated strangely, multiple arms. Alexis shouldered the rifle and waited. The group only stared.

"Are... are you surrendering?" she called out. She didn't know what she'd do if they did. Then the group shuffled aside and she saw someone step out before them. They were a short man, a bit chubby, with the kind of strangely ridged forehead that she expected from a genestealer, only their clothes were a cut above the rest. Long robes, with a tall collar around the back.

"Look at this. How many of our brothers did you kill? Do you feel an ounce of guilt for it?"

"Uh," Alexis said.

"No? I mean, one of them cut my arm off! And I don't think they were just having a stroll. They were here to attack the communications station!"

"You know nothing!" the man hurled back.

"And I see no injury upon you! Only the blood of the innocent."

"I... got better. And I'm sorry about, uh, your brothers? But I can't let them, or you, pass." The man hissed, then raised an arm out towards her.

"Alexis, I suspect that this man is capable of willing some sort of psychic phenomena. Be careful." A psyker? Alexis recalled all of the training she'd had with regard to those. Then she pulled the trigger. Her lasfire raked across the air ahead of her, then the man ducked. A red bolt cut across his side, burning through his robes, but the rest splashed against a semi-transparent dome that flashed into being just steps ahead of the man.

"Scum!" he shouted.

"You, you, and you, take your teams, kill the tech priest. The rest of you, with me!" There was a shuffling as the group ahead twisted around, some members starting to run ahead while others moved back and out of sight. Only one of the really big guys remained, and he was already starting his charge ahead.

"Get ready!" Alexis called out. 054-648 immediately started to shoot smaller rivets ahead, tagging a few of the faster genestealers and sending them down. Alexis joined in, squeezing down the trigger and spraying from left to right and back again, splashing the frontmost enemies with lasfire. Then the big brute roared and shoved some of his smaller companions aside on his way towards her barricade.

"CS!" Alexis shouted. The combat servitor made an acknowledging noise as she stepped up. Almost instantly, the air around and behind the servitor filled with wavering heat as the big plasma welder came on. The genestealers, despite Alexis and 054-648's suppressing fire, were almost on them. CS-3-2/11 opened up. A spear of blue flame, so strong it was almost coherent, stabbed outwards and plunged ahead a dozen feet.

It was so hot that Alexis felt all of her exposed skin dry up in moments, and she found herself having to squint to see anything. Where the welding lance touched, enemies disintegrated. The lumen strips above grew brighter, then exploded as their glass bulbs overheated, showering the corridor in bright sparks, and the corpses strewn about on the ground whooshed into flame, skin and cloth catching fire. Alexis squinted through the light, then raised her rifle and continued to fire.

Some of the genestealers were trying to circle around, and others were backpedaling, stopping just past the edges of the flames. There was no point in wasting an opportunity like this! CS-3-2/11's fire stopped after a solid five seconds, and that allowed the braver enemies to rush in, but they did so slowly, feet sizzling off of the orange-red deckplates only to smash into K84-321 who met the charge with a swing of his heavy pneumatics.

Alexis glanced behind her, noted that there was no one there, then continued to fire ahead. It really wasn't long before a half-dozen more genestealers were dead, and the last few survivors turned tail and ran, screaming even as their morale broke. She held back, but 054-648 seemed to take delight in tagging them in the back with his rivet gun.

"Good job, everyone," Alexis said, then she wrinkled her nose at the stench. Where was that psyker? She didn't see him anywhere among the dead.

"He ran away," she muttered.

"Machine Spirit Vyper, do you know where he went?" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Few of the pict recorders in this part of the ship are functional. However, I did notice this group and a few others rushing towards the communications room. They will be arriving before you do."

"Darn," Alexis said. She paused. Her orders were to hold this junction, specifically. She could do that, she'd proven it. But what use was there in holding one intersection when there were so many others? She really wanted to return to the communications room. Okay, so maybe not? High Transmechanic Dracovos was a whole pile of rude, but Alma-9 had been kind enough. She chewed on her lip, then came to a decision.

"K84-312, CS-3-2/11, stay here, both of you. Vyper, how many points did I make?" Kills Confirmed: 29x Genestealers New Point Total: 302 She nodded.

"I need something," she said as she carefully undid her backpack and set it down. The straps were worn through in a few spots. It was looking a little rough, especially since it wasn't made for this kind of thing. KYS extended her four arms for stability, then turned her head to look at Alexis.

"Okay... do I have a good servitor chassis in my Basic Tools catalogue? Or in the others? I'd like to give KYS the ability to move."

"You might want a specialized catalogue for that, then. You have the points to spare. Perhaps... Tier One - Combat Droids. It would give you some weapons, multiple chassis, and a wide range of potential upgrades." Alexis paused, then nodded.

"How much?"

"One hundred points."

"Do it," she said before she could think twice. New Purchase: Tier One - Combat Droids Points Reduced to: 202"Okay. Next... I want armour for KYS and a chassis, so that she can move around on her own? Maybe something a bit more, uh, to make her a better fighter?"

"What are you envisioning?" Alexis stared down at KYS, then giggled a little. The idea that came to mind was... well she'd seen some pict recordings.

"Do you know what a Sicarian Ruststalker is?"

"I see... with your current points, a full conversion like that isn't yet possible. However, the basic movement systems and armouring can be achieved, as well as a light implant to assist Servitor KYS in moving with her new body. I imagine that you don't want to simply override the servitor's healing capabilities."

"No! I think she enjoys healing. So... more like a Sicarian Medicae... stalker? How far can we go with, uh, say 150 points? That'll leave me with like... uh... fifty-two points, right?"

"We can get most of the way there, certainly." She ended up purchasing three things. New Purchase: Type 578 Assassin Droid Armoured Chassis Points Reduced to: 72 New Purchase: Strategic Droid Movement and Stealth Implant Points Reduced to: 52 The two boxes that appeared were wildly different in size. The first contained a small collar-like metal device that she quickly fitted around KYS's neck. There were two small wires that plunged into the base of the servitor's neck and burrowed into her cranium from there.

Then Alexis used her fancy new fingers to undo much of the main body that KYS had, keeping only her four arms and the systems around her upper torso where she was still partially organic. That was quickly plugged into what she found in the second box. The body came with two long legs, both of them digitigrade, and ending in hoof-like feet with soft rubber pads on the bottom. The main torso was armoured, with Martian-red plates curved into sharp-edged triangles.

It was thin at the waist, and designed to allow KYS to spin her entire upper body all the way around. The last piece that Alexis fit into place around KYS's bodyglove was a mask that fully enclosed the medicae servitor's head. It had a steel plate, shaped into a vaguely feminine form, with recessed lenses over the eyes.

"Okay, I think that's it?" Alexis said. KYS made a small affirmative noise, then she jumped. Alexis gasped as the medicae servitor went from being prone on the ground to hanging from the ceiling, legs splayed out to hold her in place between two pipes and her extensive medical tools clicking rhythmically.

"Are you... laughing?" Alexis asked. The clicking of forceps intensified.

"Well... I'm glad you're happy," Alexis said. KYS dropped back down, feet landing with barely a thump of noise, then the servitor slid around and moved to Alexis' back. She turned, but KYS turned with her. Alexis had the strange impression that KYS just... didn't want to be perceived. She was there to heal and fix things, not be noticed. She supposed that was okay.

"Alright, I feel a lot, uh, safer now," Alexis said.

"054-648, K84-321 and CS-3-2/11, don't worry! Next time we make a heap of points, you'll be next on the upgrade list! Promise!" Alexis wouldn't admit it so easily, but she had always been fascinated by the skitarii, and exceptionally envious of those few magi who had their own killclades to call upon.