Irked Blood Angel Scout with Combat Knife
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So i wrote this prequel for the superb Imperial Guard book Imperial Glory for english class, and i was wondering what you of the internet thought of it. Enjoy!
Gardner cackled as he sprayed the Tyranids with a hail of autocannon fire. A second later, he felt himself being thrown from Trouble’s shoulder, and held in the ogryn’s gargantuan arms. He looked at Trouble questioningly and Trouble simply stated “One of them ‘urty popping tings wot was gonna krump you.”
Gardner realized the ogryn had just absorbed a spore grenade blast for him. He yelled “Trouble! Behind you!”
A Tyranid warrior had attempted to catch the ogryn off-guard. What the Tyranid did not expect was that the ogryn did not like anything threatening his “Bruvva”. Trouble grabbed the warrior’s head and squeezed until it exploded in a shower of xenos brain matter. The ogryn grabbed Gardner and put him back on his shoulder, resuming the autocannon support for the rest of the company.
Shortly after, a huge rumbling sound was heard, and a monstrosity the size of a hab-block burst from the battle-scorched ground. The retreat for Carson’s company was sounded seconds later, but too late. The creature made horrible slithering, clicking sounds with it’s carapace, electricity running across its whole form, and then fired bolt after bolt of lightning into the Imperial Guard ranks. Many similar horrors popped out of the ground in other areas of the battlefield. It had just been a diversion, with the Hive Mind throwing wave after wave of ground troops into the meat grinder to distract the Guardsmen from the real threat. A mass retreat was performed, but with heavy losses.
Gardner sat up in the cot, realizing he was in a medicae facility, in the base-camp. No, not a facility, a tent. There hadn’t been a medicae tent in Dova before. He asked a passing medicae what was going on, but the man just hurried past, obviously too busy with the wounded to pay attention to one man. Gardner didn’t even remember when he was wounded, or how. He looked down to his chest and noted a bandage running across his chest, but it didn’t hurt, so he got up to investigate. Gardner found Lieutenant Carson sitting with a few men from his company. Gardner walked over slowly, so as not to aggravate his injury. He asked Carson “Sir, why are there all these tents set up with medicae?”
Carson replied “Didn’t you hear? There are too many wounded for the standard facilities. Two tents have been set up to treat the overflow.”
“Is Trouble alright?” Gardner asked fearfully.
“Yeah, after you got stabbed by a gaunt, he tried carrying you to safety, but a Chimaera driver took you, and a warrior nearly got him, but I guess his instincts told him to hold on, ‘cause he made it puke its own guts out. He ended up riding home on own of Rosa’s Gryphons.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s in the chapel, trying to figure out how to pray for you. Can’t imagine the priests will be too happy ‘bout the smell, but the Emperor won’t mind.”
Gardner entered the chapel, seeing Trouble right in front of the statue of Him, the other worshippers giving him a wide berth, as much for the smell as the fear of being sat on. When Gardner tapped Trouble on the shoulder, the ogryn turned slowly, then seeing companion shouted “Bruvva!” and embraced him.
Gardner struggled to be free of the bear hug, but to no avail. “Them doks said you was gonna be fine, but I thinked I should pray to the Empra, just in case.” Trouble bellowed, drawing looks of ire from other worshippers.
Gardner led his friend out of the chapel and said “Looks like it worked. I’ll be fine in no time.”
Just then, Private Chaffer, better known as Mouse, ran up to them, practically jumping up and down with excitement. He said “I heard we’re gonna get garrisoned! Carson says the colonel thinks the losses are so heavy that we’ll be garrisoned on some cushy planet!”
It was true, the Brimlock Eleventh had been through a lot. Most of the men were veterans of at least twenty years, but the Guard was for life, so garrison duty was the best they would get. Still better than staying on Brimlock. As the recruitment posters went, steal, starve or soldier.
That night, Colonel Arbulaster gathered the troops and addressed them with a vox-amplifier. He said “Men, each one of you has been through more than some regiments. Yesterday we suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tyranid monsters, and we lost comrades, friends, and some of us lost sons. But, we may be rewarded today for all that sacrifice. Crusade Command has announced they will send an Astropath message determining what will become of this regiment.”
Cheers went up all over, some men throwing hats in the air before being bellowed at by their Colour-Sergeants. Arbulaster smiled, knowing his men deserved this reward more than anyone else. And they should have received it, if there was any justice in this galaxy. But, there is none but the brutal justice of a chainsword.
Two hours later, an astrotelepathical message arrived in Arbulaster’s office from Crusade Command. It stated “We are pleased to inform you that your regiment will be amalgamated with other weakened regiments to form a full strength one, which you will be given command of. You will be given further opportunity to work for His Imperial Glory. End message.”
Arbulaster announced this to his men with a heavy heart, and, for the first time since he was just a private, all those years ago, Gardner was afraid. How would he keep his friend alive for another fifteen years? And all for General Ellinor’s Imperial Glory.
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