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Colonel Philip-Horatio Atee - Mordian Iron Guard

The Colonel stared out over the parapet of Outpost IX, looking down to inspect his troops. "A generous term...." He thought darkly, "Therandon PDF." His Attache, Lieutenant Bryar tilted his head, knowing the source of the Colonels black mood. "They'll do their duty, Sir, they're fighting for their homes after all." The Colonel clenches his fists on the railings, knuckles turning white as he turns to look at the wounded Lieutenant, "they have no idea what's lies beyond this planet and there they stand, pretending to be soldiers, in Mordian Uniforms. Mordian uniforms, Bryar! Heroes should be wearing them, not this rabble."

Bryar, absent mindedly scratching an itch found in the cast of his slung arm, voices a reply "[i]The Inquisitor has his reasons, for taking the rest of the Regiment with him, I'm sure." A snort from the jowelly Colonel, "I know he is an Emissary of the Emperor, Bryar, but I just don't understand the *logic* he's Malleus and he has us standing here in this sector fighting Xenos, Xenos!" Forgetting his troops for the moment, Atee turns to stare Bryar right in the eyes, noticing the fresh scar running down his jawline. "Tell me, my friend. Why were we on Paxem? Why did my men die on that insignificant hole? Why were we forced to retreat?"

The storm raged, rain pattering over the hull of the Chimera. Atee looked over his Veterans, proud Mordians all. Upon the Command Chimeras dashboard, the comnet buzzed. "This is Valkyrie Gamma, Xenos vehicles sighted, moving to intercept. Target outlines hazy, enemy using disruption tech. Deploying troops... Target, minimal damage."

The Colonels face returned to its scowl, he remembers the cries on the commnet from the opening of that battle, "minimal damage, weapons no effect." Worse than that, he remembered the silence, vehicles his mechanised assault simply falling dark, the insides of the metal behemothes simply shredded from the high velocity impacts of the Tau Railguns. Then, the
dreadful sensation at is happened to his own vehicle. A soldier, Lance Corporal Jameson, if he remembered right, staying behind on board the doomed Chimera, putting out the flames. A valiant effort, to no gain as the Colonels troopers were cut down around him, only his Refractor Field saving his life.

He remembers his wounds, gained then and later, he remembers crouching by the objective marker with a salvaged vox set, trying to regain control of the battle. He even succeeded, for a time. The heroic actions of Beta Squad in downing one of the Tau 'Devilfish' carriers with bursts from their plasma guns before retrieving the unconscious and wounded Lieutenant Bryar and bringing him back to safety. The survivors now rewarded and serving as his new command Squad, with safer weaponry. And the single weapon that so very nearly turned the tide, the Manticore Valar Morghulis. Accounting for significant Kroot casualties and the destruction of three Tau vehicles, it was a small consolation that the launcher was recovered from the withdrawl. Atee makes a mental note to visit the Shrine of the Machine God to give thanks for this small favour.

The same could not have been said of his company's true pride, the Deathstike Launcher, 'Omega' - the missile when it finally launched veered off track then failed to explode. His Engine-Seers suspected outside interference and there were apparently some ir-regularities with the missiles weight and its 'humours.' The Launcher itself, was not recovered, being destroyed as Atee reluctantly ordered the retreat. The curious thing is, the tank was not hit by enemy fire....

Finally, Atee remembers the fighting withdrawl from the battlefield, Tau Drones peppering his armour from the sky, before finally being pulled down by the heavy bark of his bolt gun. Beta squad running alongside him, the Morghulis ahead of him, with the few survivors of Squad Alpha 1 riding on top. The Tau Army held the field then, and the planet. For a time.....

Something happened shortly as Atee and his forces, a strange cataclysmic event with no known cause. The Colonel remembers his heart leaping at the thought of the Tau Forces caught below in the conflagration. But he knew in his heart of hearts... If he escaped, so could the Tau....

Snapping out of his reverie, he looked over the always busy parade ground in front of Outpost IX. With a clear, commanding tone, his voice cried out. "The Tau and their allies are coming. We will fight them here. We will stand fast and we will die like Guardsmen. In The Name of The Emperor!"

This firms a final resolution in the Colonels mind. "We shall not retreat again."