Blessings of uncertainty

Chapter 6: Might of the Crusade

The sounds of bolter fire filled the room as hundreds of shells littered the floor like snow upon the plains of Inwit or ash when the Templars purged an area. I was with the squad, practicing and perfecting the usage of the newest weapon as a part of my arsenal, the heavy bolter gifted by the Adepta Sororitas. The other squad members were practicing as well, honing in their skills with the bolter if only for a moment before they return to sparring with each other, Father is here as well, however much has changed since the ceremony, he has adopted a greater tabard that covers his chest plate, and a cape and several long strands of parchment filled with scriptures and other pieces of our chapter's heraldry. He no longer sports a heavy bolt pistol and instead now wields a plasma pistol, I asked about it once and he responded with "It is only natural that I evolve in tactics and gear, that and the tech marines finally made some worthwhile arguments", he even prefers to wield his sword without his storm shield, he did however bring it to our last operation, wherein we attacked a forward supply depot alongside the guard and- "Is something the matter, Luci?" Father asks, it seems I was trailing off, I shake my head "Apologies father, I was just spacing out for a moment" he sighs and says "It's fine, you seem to be getting better at wielding that heavy bolter anyways, just keep that habit out of our deployments" I nodded in response before he says "Alright everyone, that should have been ample time to hone our aiming, let's head to an altar and pray before continuing", as I was stowing my heavy bolter Father stops me and says "Not you, Luci. Brother Dieter will teach you about suppressing fire given your role should you bring your heavy bolter" I nod and he and the squad except Dieter leave.

As me and Dieter were left there he asked "Sister, what made you choose the bolter over something like a flamer or melta?" I explained to him the same thing I told Father, he sighs and says "You know as well as I do hive cities are damp and wet, you'll hardly find much flammable material say for a few exceptions" Dieter points to my helmet on the table "Equip your helmet, I'll have some data uploaded for you to work with" as I equip my helmet a stream of data fills my helmet's display, Dieter presses a button and a target appears a dozen meters behind the firing line, as I aim at the target Dieter stops me "Sister, you see the target and its distance, correct?" I nod, still aiming at the figure in the distance, the target finder locked onto it providing a stream of data about angle of attack, windage, shell velocity, and other bits of information. Dieter then says "Fire in the direction of the target" I fire a burst, the shells hit the target dead on with two hits to the chest and a third in the head. I turn my head to Dieter and he shakes his head. Confused, I ask "Is something wrong, brother?" he points at the target and says "Look closer" sure enough I see two, no, three silhouettes besides the main target I fired at, I turn to say "They weren't there before" Dieter responds "You need to have your target finder tag and track multiple targets, you can adjust that with a techpriest later, now focus on firing just above their head" I nod and continue firing at the targets, the shells whizz just above their heads before Dieter says "Good, now try firing a long burst at the group, get as many accurate hits as you can", I gently squeeze the trigger and brace for the shot, given the nature of a bolter there is little recoil however even the slightest movement offsets the targeting, the heavy bolter coughs out a deafening salvo at the targets down range, Dieter gestures me to stop and as the smoke clears we count the hits versus the critical hits on the targets "Looks good, though you must adjust the targeting array with the techpriest in order to limit any tunnel vision" I nod in response, Dieter cocks his head to the side and says "Come, lets see a techpriest now before we report in for martial training" we pas through the various halls of the ship again, its much less busy now as most of the Astartes are planetside fighting in the outer city of the main hive city Hexon, we arrive at the armory and strangely enough Father and the rest of the squad is here as well.

I wave to greet them and Father waves back, as we approach a techpriest and a techmarine are presiding over the oiling and blessing of a plasma pistol and a powersword, both of which belong to Father, as they finish the techpriest approaches me and says "Greetings, Sister Luci. What brings you here?" I remove my helmet and gesture to it "I need to have the targeting array adjusted to track while still tagging several targets" I hand him my helmet, he takes a look at the helmet before bowing and says "It will be done, please just wait a while I will have this moved up the priority list" a confused look forms on my face as I say "Move up the priority list? How come?" before the techpriest can respond Brother Rein butts in "We are required on the surface, Volt and his terminator unit require support in their assault" Dieter laughs and says "Brother Volt requires our help? There's something you don't hear everyday" annoyed Rein responds "It is no laughing matter, Dieter. If he is being held up there has to be a considerable force behind his cause for concern" Dieter shakes his head "I'm aware brother, I'm just trying to lighters the mood" I look at Father and he says "It's true, we've been dispatched to aid Volt in assaulting a position, I would assume our role is that of a force faster than his terminators" I nod in response, the techpriest returns and hands me my helmet, he bows and says "The targeting array has been adjusted, it should tag all targets in close proximity while maintaining the tag on your preferred target" I thank the priest, "Blessings of the Omnissiah be with you" he says as he walks away, I equip my helmet and sure enough the targeting array was adjusted to my preferred settings, I may need to return for fine tuning I think to myself, Father picks up his plasma pistol and his sword, looking at the sword I ask "Father, is that a different sword?" he nods "You have a good eye, Luci. Or is it the interface that told you that?" I shake my head and he continues "This is a mastercrafted power sword. Since my knighting as one of the sword brethren I could have had one at any time, however I decided to finally commission the making of one in honor of your ascension to initiate, it's also why I adopted a plasma pistol, a modification of my armor, and a tabard instead of just a loincloth. Beyond just aesthetic differences the gear is also a show of my personal veteran status in the crusade, and I decided to finally showcase it in honor of your achievements" I smile underneath my helm after hearing the reason. Father then says "Let's go, no time to waste as Volt needs us" a quick trip into the armory now as I and the rest take our gear and some extras, I take a sororitas pattern power sword and some grenades, the rest of the squad do similar and once we leave the armory Father greeted us and we head towards the hangar and board a Thunderhawk, as we set off Father leads us in a series of litanies and prayers to aid us in the upcoming battle.