There weren't enough of us to form squads, and the staff were likely to shoot each other rather than the enemy. I cautioned Gaspard to give the two most trustworthy lads autoguns, and stationed them on the far car with the blast hole, giving them ample cover and four meters of space a soldier would need to jump to cross. I had the frame of mind to tell them if anything vaguely round was thrown at them, they were to throw it back, and quickly. 

With that primer completed, I requisitioned Lord Gaspard, Junior Officer Jonas, and his deputy he introduced as Lucius. I had let Lord Gaspard believe it was his idea, and gave him a wide birth with his double barrel. I was unsure of how effective he might be without tall grass and a pair of hounds, but I could ascertain he was familiar enough with the weapon not to be unsafe due to lack of handling. I ordered the officers to guard our flanks, and I took the left while Gaspard swept right. 

"Bloody cold's unbearable." Lucius remarked, before Jonas smacked the back of his head, placing a finger against his own lips. 

The noise, while unwelcome, did not give our positions away. It was clear as I suspected, save for the corpses of the passengers. The dining car has kept only a shadow of its former dignity, the last stretch of it looking relatively the same as it had hours previously, save for a few tossed items and a lack of lighting. I informed them the suites would be next, and to watch out for civilians. We kept the same pattern, and luckily, other than finding a frightened couple huddled in a suite, as well as a rich merchant who was miraculously still asleep in his bed, there was no incident. I was beginning to think the assassins had fled the scene, until we reached the car just outside the engine room. 

"Negie hall" Jonas whispered to me as we prepared ourselves for entry. A strange name for a car. Evidently it was an art exhibit, and a bidding room for special occasions. I'd heard of it, and had planned on visiting it as Emmaline had a taste for Maxime Étienne's Neoclassical pieces. I checked the prime on my laspistol, however before I could enter, Jonas had apparently regained a spine. He bade me to wait with a gesture of his hand, hoisted the lascarbine he had taken from one of the assassin's I had killed, choosing it in lieu of his laspistol, and he opened the door without much preamble. I was close enough to the doorway to see the mirror behind the small amasec bar on the right side of the car, watching as the head of a man in a facemask turned. I couldn't even cry out before Jonas, slack jawed, was eviscerated by lasgun fire. He had barely raised his weapon, not even able to form the words to call for their disarmament. Lord Gaspard gave a rousing gasp at the sudden turn of events, and the now-deceased Junior Officer's deputy screamed, though to his credit he shoved his hand out of the door and fired wildly. 

I activated the rune of my pallasch and with a flourish of my blade, cut the door off its hinges. Gaspard had decided to make his own entrance, firing his large caliber rifle point blank into the wall between car, granting himself a more comfortable position to shoot. I only spared him a glance, the mirror ever in my vision, now the figures of two men reflected on its surface. I thumbed the burst-fire on my laspistol, having modified it for occasions that might call for it, and fired a volley at the mirror. Lasgun missiles were not [i]entirely[/i] lasers, but they were mostly. A tech-priest of the mechanicus could give a three hour lecture on the minutia of it, but I was very aware a reflective surface would hold longer than a non-reflective one, and it could even bounce a lasbolt off itself before shattering. Unfortunately for the assassins, two of the missile ricocheted and burned into them. Their protective gear kept them alive, but it was enough for me to take as an opportunity to advance. 

With a quick prayer for Emmaline and victory, I sprang through the gaping doorway. Evidently one of the- now four assailants I could see- had deigned to advance as well. I admit if it wasn't for his surprise, he would have gotten me, but we had ended up face to face, and my sword was already out. He pivoted and leaped to my left, turning his gun at me. But I cut him in two bloody pieces with a back cut of my sword, his lascarbine firing off three shots from his spasmed finger before hitting the floor. Raising my laspistol, I fired at the two assassin's now recovering from the ricochet, striking into their collarbones and joints, knowing my laspistol would be ineffective against their armored chests. The fourth assassin raised up, having my dead to rights, but to my surprise and good fortune, Gaspard was not a bad shot. His next two slugs caused the cloaked assailant's chest to erupt in blood and gore, a gurgle escaping his masked face as he fell to the floor, his lascarbine firing off, slicing through the small collection of priceless paintings still on the walls during downtime hours. 

I decided not to leave it to chance, and charged the two wounded men, eviscerating them with three swift sweeps of the sword.

The deputy had stopped panicking by that point, but still held himself from entering the room. I knelt down, trying to find any identifying marks on the men, but I realized I would have to strip them to nothing to be certain, and we needed to get the train moving. With a sigh, I raised myself up. 

"Poor lad." Lord Gaspard lamented, and I realized he truly was a trite remorseful. Maybe he was not such a snob, after all. 

"Lucius, once we enter the engine room, I need you to return to the head of the train and inform Agiad." I remarked, thumbing the activation rune so the blood dissipated into nothingness. "Escort him back here. Guard him with your life."