Captain 5W4NN came too in the recovery room, coughed, gagged and bought up a mouthful of blood. She spat it harshly down her front, spit clinging to her chin and grimaced. The screaming pain from the back of her head flooded her senses as she tried to recall what had happened. The memories were blurry and hard to recall but the feeling of shame they brought up felt painfully clear - she had been utterly humiliated.

Ogryns. It had to be Ogryns... She'd spotted them on the drop ship - everyone had they'd been impossible to miss despite their best attenpts to keep to themselves. The most basic of training made it clear they were hiding something but who among them wasn't. The uneasy truce written up by the CCCP wasn't worth squat to any gang present, the simple lack of a tactical advantage and the promise of reward meant the bloodbath would at least wait till they'd reached their destination. The moment they'd descended into the sump it had begun.

The descent couldn't have been worse. As soon as they dropped she realized what was happening. The mad grab for the awful drop gear was one thing, she'd thought that exiting first and fast would ensure The Murmurations some of the better gear - she'd seem the rusted piles of junk further back in the equipment stores and had already done the math - someone would be deploying with it and she'd be damned if Helmawr's finest would be the ones. What she wasn't prepared for was for the Ogryns to follow directly and deliberately behind. They didn't need to push to the front of the other waiting gangs - they had all cleared out of the Ogryns way as quickly as they could. No less than five of the hulking brutes descended directly and deliberately ontop of her unsuspecting crew.

As soon as she hit the ground she responded to what was happening, barking instructions into her com-link to take evasive action - forget the crystals, just survive. If they got to high enough ground and put enough distance between them they could put the abominations down, or at least scare them off with enough fire power. Sergeant G0LD3N3Y3 responded affirmative, he could reach high ground, cover the team and investigate a crystal cluster on his vantage point. He's calmness did little to reassure the captain.

She hauled herself up a ladder trying to reach a vantage point, ordering Sargent J4CKD4W to respond. Nothing. She persisted and met with static. He was out of range and she knew what that meant - he'd missed the landing point. He was no good to her now. She instinctively requested a sit rep for the rest of the squad and was met with the same hiss of white noise from 8L4CK81RD. Two down from the drop let alone the threat of the Ogryns. At least things couldn't go much worse the thought... and instantly regretted it.

She reached the top of the gangway and heard the scream. Short, sharp and relayed from a palanite helmet. The crunch of armour that accompanied the noise and the silence that followed spoke volumes. From under a gang way on her left she saw 574RL1NG's body flung like a crushed bag of rations, a nasty spurt of bodily fluids shot out from under the crumpled armour and across the floor. 574RL1NG was a big man and one of the finest subjugators she'd ever worked with. One look at his mangled remains was enough for her to know his duty was forever done. The Ogryn responsible stepped slowly out of the shadows a stupid look of contentment across his chuckling face. He'd practically landed ontop of the poor man. 574RL1NG never even stood a chance.

The hulking brutes simple eyes made contact with 5W4NNs across the shanty town they had landed in. She was surprised to see intelligence there and a flash of recognition. Something clicked in 5W4NN's head, taking her back to a few weeks previous and the pieces started to fall into place... A response to an emergency call at a barely functioning mining facility... A small group of Slave Ogryns had attempted an uprising - their pain and anger finally getting the better of them. They'd raged against their handlers and made an absolute mess of the poor unfortunates - each of the three rebelling Ogryn had a severed human limb in each hand when the Enforcers arrived.

As she recalled the Murmurations had enjoyed that mission.. the stupidity of the Ogryns meant they'd chosen to stage their rebellion at the bottom of a mine shaft. Beyond dismembering their handlers and destroying some rudimentary equipment (including the lift platform needed to exit the shaft) their was nowhere for them to go. 5W4NN's squad took their time setting up their firearms before systematically executing them. They were amazed at their resilience - one of the brutes took a sniper rounds directly to his eye, yet it still took a second to the temple and third shot to the back of the head to put him down. With his last breath the monster had flung the twisted broken limb of his once captor at G0LD3N3Y3's position. It had flopped gently next to him with a soft slap.

Surprisingly quick on the uptake one of three Ogryns attempted to hide inside the metal containers used for extraxing the mines debris. 574RL1NG had simply emptied his grenade launcher into it tilll the smell of burnt hide filled the shaft. It was the third Ogryn that shocked them all the most. Sargent J4CKD4W had emptied his boltgun into the brutes spine and the abomination barely flinched. As he reloaded the Ogryn roared and charged - smashing into side of the shaft with all it's might. The minor rumble this caused at the top of the sacaffolding the squad occupied had made the Murmurations smile, but this became outright laughter when the whole shaft wall collapsed down on the idiot monster.

They'd laughed again as they'd retold the story over drinks that night at the precinct. It would take a recovery crew weeks to clear that mess and 5W4NN doubted there would be much left to recover. Now she was furious at her naievity. Ogryns were insanely difficult to put down - she'd seen that first hand. She'd never bothered to chase up on that recovery report - the excitement and preparation of being chosen Enforcers squad for the CCCP expedition had left little time for such basic beauracracy. Besides it wasn't the first Ogryns uprising they'd put down in such manner and she'd doubt it would be the last.

Now her actions had cost her a team mates life. An unforgivable oversight. The look that Ogryn had given her had forced the facts into place. The third mineshaft Ogryn had survived and escaped, though probably barely. He'd somehow sought out more of his liberated Brethren and retold his uprisings story - to the very Ogryn squad selected for the same sump expedition. Ogryns didn't take kindly to Enforcers - no gang did - but these Ogryns knew exactly who the Murmurations were, what equipment they favored and what they had done. They were out for cold blooded brutal revenge and now had ample time and opportunity to extract it.

Another scream snapped her back to the mission. She ran to the edge of the gangway in time to see 8U224RD beaten brutally to the floor under the gangway opposite her. He was crawling slowly away, and as pathetic as it looked it relieved 5W4NN, it meant he was still breathing. Again this monster had landed directly on top of the poor patrolman before he even had time to react. She fired her stub gun at the Ogryn responsible as he lumbered slowly after his prey. The shots ricocheted off if his simple armor as he looked up at her confused. She spun round to see if G0LD3N3Y3 could assist from his vantage point and saw he very much had his own problems to deal with.

G0LD3N3Y3 had just reached the top of the silo with the crystal cluster twinkling away from the middle of it. He reached out to harvest the objective when a Shadow blocked out the light... He quickly wheeled round to the hulking Ogryn bearing down on him, the stench already reaching his nostrils. The sniper quickly realised he's rifle would be useless now and took a calculated risk - he abandoned the crystals and threw himself off of the edge of the silo. The fall he would walk away from. The Ogryn he would not.

"WITHDRAW AND RETREAT" 5W4NN screamed into her comms as she searched frantically for the closest strategical exit. She was not expecting a reply and the interruption caught her off guard. "Affirmative ma'am. Two crysyal clusters secured and 574RL1NG recovered. Securing our exit now." There was a painful pause... "He's gone ma'm." the voice finished. This news didn't surprised the captain but the professionalism of her newest recruit did. G05H4WK was the latest addition to her team and was already showing a reserve and promise that far exceeded his peers. His excellent academy record and early Subjugator status was not unwarranted.

Unbelievably the mission hadn't been a complete failure she thought. And allowed her self a moment's breath. She shouldn't have. The speed at which the Ogryn below her shot up the nearest ladder was staggering. The blow it delivered to her even more so. She rembered little else.

5W4NN held the memory of the Ogryns fist in her mind a moment longer before returning to the present and letting the hot shame of humiliation fill her once more. It stung worse than the head wound. Slowly she looked around the recovery room and was comforted by her vigilance assault sheild propped up by the door. It had no doubt saved her life again. She squinted at it... From her bed it looked slightly dented.

Next to her lay 8U224RD. He was asleep but breathing soundly and all things considered didn't look too bad. It would take them both some time to recover, but recover they would.

"Good to see you awake ma'm" Seargent G0LD3N3YE's voice said gently beside her. 5W4NN's ears were ringing still and she hadn't heard him come in. "Seargent J4CKD4W and 8LACK81RD have returned ma'am" he continued "Their drop gear had been tampered with... Someone had put older broken equipment into the newer equipments boxes..." He trailed off.

5W4NN winced. She should have known better, dirty underhand tactics. She hadn't spotted any Delaque's aboard the drop ship but knew that made their presence all the more likely.

"Their ok ma'am, at least physically" the Seargent slowly explained. "Their just different... Especially 8L4CK81RD... He's showing the signs ma'am". 5W4NN coughed again. No blood this time. "He's isolated for now and waiting assessment." G0LD3N3YE bowed low "rest up captain, we've got it from here." She met her Seargents eyes and did exactly as instructed.