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Chapter 1-
Janis had only held a rifle three times in his life. The first time was when he had learned to operate and fire the simple laslock he was issued upon joining the militia of his planet. Each militiaman was required to remain proficient with their rifle and keep it in good working order on the off chance their was a need to call in the citizen militia. Janis had excelled during his training and was awarded the rank of Corporal upon his graduation. He was also paid a stipend of an extra one hundred credits per month for his duties as a militiaman. In return for these 100 credits Janis was obligated to serve in any major conflict that arose on his planet and was required to respond to any major citizen revolts or riots. There had not been a major conflict for well over fifty years and he had only responded to one riot which lasted only eight days, so Janis was happy for the extra credits in his pocket for the relatively little work it took to earn them.
The second time Janis held his laslock was for his official Militia photo. The women at the pubs always seemed more eager to talk after seeing him in his milita uniform.
Unfortunately for Janis the third time Janis held his laslock was at the bottom of a trench dug outside of his cities walls.
The Orks had come quickly out from the dessert plains. The last time the Orks had been a problem was ancient history to Janis. They had ravaged the world over 50 years ago, but were finally destroyed and driven back into the waste lands which separated each major population center. Janis' people did not believe anything could survive out in the vast wasteland, but the Orks seemed to have thrived in the dessert. They came riding machines that only Orks could operate. On wagons and buggies ranging from wood to plated steel stolen from scrap yards and built from whatever else the Orks could scavenge.
The Planetary Defense Force was quickly dispatched to destroy the xenos, but everyone on the planet know they were poorly trained and equipped. It was common knowledge that the PDF stood little chance against the ferocity of the attacking Orks, and that their real goal would be to hold the Orks back for as long as possible until the Imperial Guard arrived. The PDF made their stand on the outskirts of the dessert in order to stop the Orks from reaching the major population centers until they could be relived. Janis had heard the rumors that some PDF units were already being overwhelmed and he knew that this meant the Orks were headed straight toward the militia units surrounding the cities
The PDF was the standing army of the planet, but the militia was the secondary defense force. While the PDF rode out to confront the Ork threat the milita prepared the defenses of the city as best as they could. Trenches were dug at the outskirts of the city and the milita stood guard with orders to defend their trench until they were relieved, or until they were killed to the last man and woman. No one expected the milita to hold long when the Orks reached the city. Janis was fully prepared to die defending his city and knew now was the time he would pay for all the benefits he had received as a member of the milita.
The yelling of men from down the trench quickly drew Janis out of his morbid thoughts. He saw that the men were looking out over the top while screaming and gesturing for men around them to make their weapons ready. Janis pulled himself to a better vantage point and poked his head out over the trench. The dust cloud over the approaching Ork hoard was immense. It made detailed description of the enemy force impossible, but Janis could tell some Orks rode in trucks, some on bikes and some simply ran toward the trench line. As the Orks drew closer and closer to the city Janis heard his officers screaming behind him to man the trenches and make their rifles ready.
Janis stood with his squad mates, not all of whom he knew personally, and aimed his laslock out over the trench at the incoming hoard of Orks. By now Janis could hear the bellowing of the Orks war cries and it terrified him to the core. The bellowing of the Orks was the sound of beings that lived for war and destruction. He knew that these would be his last minutes of life, but he also knew he would make the Emperor proud by defending his small piece of the trench line to his fullest potential.
The Orks drew so close that Janis could make out individual green blurs in the mass of the on coming hoard. Up and down the trench line small pockets of las fire rang out and hit the incoming wave of xenos, but the fire was poorly aimed and sporadic. It had little effect on the charging Orks. Janis and his squad held their fire waiting on their sergeant to give the order to fire. The laslock was an ancient las weapon design which favored power over capacity and did have a chance to injure the oncoming Ork hoarde, but firing now while the Orks were so far out was not effective. Janis and his squad knew their fire would be much more effective when firing en mass. After what seemed like entirely too long of a wait the sergeant finally screamed his order to fire.
Janis knew he had about ten fully charged shots with his laslock until he would be fighting with his combat knife and a small autopistol he wore on his hip. Every man in the militia was issued a laslock with one ten charge clip and a combat knife. Janis had purchased the autopistol a few years back to wear for his protection during his business in the hive. It and the combat pistol would be next to useless once the Orks got in so close so Janis was determined to make every shot count with his laslock.
Janis took aim at one of the green masses that was sprinting toward the trenches and fired a single shot with his laslock. The shot was a good (or lucky) one and it struck the Ork square in the chest. The beast fell and for a fraction of a second Janis felt hope. His positive feelings were quickly crushed when he saw the same beast he had hit get up and continue to run toward the trench line. It was in that moment that Janis decided he was going to die, but he was going to take as many Orks as he could with him. Maybe that way he could hold his head high when he met the Emperor.
Janis' second shot hit the same Ork in the head. This time the Ork collapsed and did not recover. Eight shots left, and Janis would make every one count.
Unfortunately Janis did not have time to take aim for a third shot. Wild screaming and grunting from further down the trench line pulled his attention away from the on coming Orks. Scanning for the noise that distracted him revealed that the Orks had already made the trench line and were among the militia defenders. Janis saw the Orks tearing apart his friends by hacking and slashing with their large cleavers. Janis's sergeant bellowed for his squad to fix their bayonets and to prepare a firing line. The trench was just wide enough for four men to kneel and fire down toward the Orks with the other members of the squad standing behind them. The squad let loose a volley of las fire which was extremely effective at the close range. Both militiamen and Orks fell to their concentrated las fire. Janis knew the men down the trench line were already dead and felt no remorse at firing in their direction. He knew they would have done the same if the roles were reversed.
The revving of the sergeants chainsword caused Janis to spin on his knee and turn to face the opposite side of the trench. The sergeant was defending himself from powerful blows from a hulking Ork that was armed with the largest two headed axe Janis had ever seen or imagined. His sergeant was a skilled swordsman and Janis had never seen him bested in training or tournament duels. It looked like those duels meant nothing now. The sergeant was simply not prepared for the ferocity or power of his enemy and the Ork quickly batted the sergeants chainsword from his grasp. Unarmed, the sergeant was splint in two from head to feet by a powerful swing from the Ork's axe.
Janis and his squad-mates instinctively fired into the Ork and the xenos was blown apart by their combined fire. As the corporal Janis was now in command, but he had no illusions as to the outcome of this battle. Hopefully his men understood their only goal now was to sell their lives as slowly as possible to give the city a chance to evacuate. Janis screamed for his squad to move down the trench line and be prepared for enemy contact. He had no plan and no illusions of living for more then a few minutes. He hoped he sounded much stronger then he felt.
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