Ansgar was listening to the discussion going on regarding what warband the traitor marines belonged to. While the Kriegsman had encountered numerous and varied traitor forces before his assignment to the retinue, these Word Bearers were not among them. They fought no where near as savagely as the red and brass colored Traitor Astartes that his regiment had encountered in the past, though their name was similar sounding. Still, dead traitors were dead traitors, and the Grenadier knew full well the odds of besting them in single combat was slim for a mere human, let alone multiples. His divided attention was then caught by the tech heretic as she spoke on the matter of the gate that had been built. Continuing to sweep the perimeter they had secured with his weapon, the Skitarii having moved into positions that would allow them to efficiently sweep and cover the area, he remarked rather calmly despite the injuries he had sustained. [color=598527]"The mercenary is right, as is the psyker to a degree. A gate of this size and power, capable of corrupting the hallowed ground a Cathedral is built on, would warrant unusually precise ritual and corruption."[/color]

The one Skitarii moved to Ansgar's position, relieving him so he could focus on the planning at hand. Normally, the Krieger wouldn't have accepted that sort of relief, but he was of more use sharing what he had learned through hard experience over staring down a dark tunnel. Doubly so, considering the Skitarii were augmented for such difficulty conditions. [color=598527]"This is the second time I've encountered scheming on this level, and the last time half succeeded in turned the planet into a Daemon controlled foothold on reality. Losing the planet to the warp is a more likely outcome than it is not. If this gate is anything like the last one, generally speaking, destroying the primary gate will cause it to cascade and collapse the network its connected to planet side. Sufficient explosives to collapse the physical gate would destabilize its connection to the immaterial, violently. It takes a mind of extremely cunning, heretical, but cunning thinking to put something of this magnitude together. Thank the Emperor it only takes a faithful soldier with high explosives to bring it crashing apart. Which, as the Psyker pointed out, would require manpower we do not currently possess for frontal assault."[/color] The way he ended that statement indicated that the Kriegsman might have an idea on how to proceed beyond that, but he didn't say at the moment. It wasn't his place to make plans or dictate the order of battle, all he was doing currently was providing what information he could, that was useful to the situation at hand.

It was a lot more than Ansgar was comfortable with, in terms of amount of words spoken, but it needed to be said. If his experiences in the Death Korp could serve here, then he would be remiss in holding any information that he was allowed to speak of back. At this point the Celestian joined them, speaking of scouting ahead and radioing in the local Guard forces for assistance. Coughing briefly to get her attention, partially due to the internal injuries if he was being honest, he spoke of his current opinion on the Guard surface side now. [color=598527]"An involved set up like this, beneath the very foundations of a major city's Cathedral, would not go unnoticed by competent forces. If this gate can call in Traitor Astartes in number, alongside such rampant mutation we have encountered, they have likely been working at this since before the Ork's arrival. If that is the case, the local forces are either inept, or compromised. The former, they are likely to die en mass to either Orks, should they breach the walls, or the Traitors when they rise up from beneath the city without accomplishing much. If they are in allegiance with the Traitors, then we are on our own with the threat of hostile air coverage and artillery should we surface within effective striking distance."[/color]

Ansgar lacked the advanced, integrated HUD that was being utilized by others in the retinue, having only what his eyes and senses showed him, which meant he did not know where they were beneath the city, or even how close they were to any sort of destination. Such was another of the differences between the power armored Sisters and Marines, versus the Guardsmen. It was frankly too cost inefficient to issue such gear to rank and file Guard, and even the Grenadiers of the Death Korp, stomrtroopers in almost every way but name (And grav chute training) did not receive such advanced wargear. Such considerations were for another time, however, for when the Celestian mentioned the psyker shouting some unknown name, the Krieger didn't overtly move. However his posture had subtly shifted none the less, instincts sensing a potential danger to the mission. Psykers shouting unknown names after shock and exposure to traitor forces never boded well, and the Kriegsman was ready to act should the need arise.