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Chapter 1 - part 1

His lungs were pumping, his legs carrying him further with each step. Adrenaline kept him running. His shirt was wet, the sweat dripping from his body like a waterfall. The boy knew better then looking back, but he couldn't help it. He saw, in disbelief, how close they were at his heels. The boy had been running through the woods for the last half hour, but his chasers just didn't give up. He wondered why. He also wondered why they were so big and why they had green skin. They sported primitive weapons, spears, clubs and the likes. Their skin almost made them blend in with the surroundings.

The boy knew he wouldn't last long against his pursuers, and the kid made a defiant cry that wouldn't accept that he was about to die. But it didn't come out that way, it was more like a cry of animalistic fear. The boy zigzagged between the trees, and hopped over bushes. He knew where to thread and were not to, he grew up in this forrest. Before his panicked flight, he saw the green monsters butchering his parents and his two sisters. He was out picking berries when it happened.

He knew he was lost, he had forgot to keep attention to his surroundings. With no idea where he was, he felt even more panic coming over him. besides the sweat, tears were running freely from his cheeks. He heard a crack, and he thought he was about to crash through one of the pit traps his father had dug. Instead, he heard a cry of pain from behind. The boy dared another look over his shoulder and saw one of the big green monsters dropping to the ground.

Looking back, he kept on running forward. He bumped against something, a tree he thought. But then he felt the strong hands around his waist.

"I've got you boy." A strong male voice said. "Get on your belly, and stay as low as you can."

The boy did as he was asked. The hands were not green, and the voice was human. These were his saviors. He put one of his ears to the ground, the other pointing up, hearing everything that was going on around him.

"Engage, Engage!" The same voice said again. More cracks were heard. The boy could see ice blue flashes of light. The cry of the green monsters grew louder, and he could hear more cracks.

"Flanks engage." The strong voice demanded again. More cracks, three times as many as before could be heard. The roaring cries of the green monsters died away, and the boy could only hear the silence of the forest. His breathing calmed down, and he felt his legs still pumping . His eyes grew heavy, and when they closed, the boy was already sleeping.

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"Mark this position," Sergeant Lucain said. "there may be more around here."

"Yes sah. Not our concern, but ah well..."

"Keep it to yourself Corion, you mind?"

"Shutting up sah."

The Corporal made a few markings on the map and tucked it away, safely in his rucksack. He was about to ask something, but Lucain was already gone, wandering off to some other guardsmen in the platoon. Corion saw the Torch Boys setting fire to the dead orks, the stench already attacked his nostrils. The stench had awakened the little boy as well. Corion reckoned he was no older then 10 years old. The boy started mumbling, his eyes still closed. When he opened them, Corion noticed the fear in his eyes. The boy saw 30 guardsmen in the green uniforms and camouflaged flack vests of the 37th Breton Rifles. He saw the bodies of the green monsters getting incinerated, he saw the fires and everything.

Corion Walked over to the boy, and sat down on his haunches. "What's your name boy?" Corion asked.

"...uh... I...I..." The boy was clearly still in shock.

"Doesn't matter know boy." Corion picked the boy up, and put his helmet on the boy's head, it was too big, but the boy didn't even notice it. With the boy in his arms, he walked to the rest of the platoon forming a rough column. "You're safe now. Don't you worry."

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That was only part 1, please be so kind to leave some c&c, so that I can improve. Thanks for reading.

Really good. A ccouple of grammar errors but other wise a good story. Keep it up

Thanks, when i re read I also spotted a couple of mistakes but I didn't have the lime left to correct them. I will see to it they will be corrected.

Chapter 1 - part 2

Corporal Corion led his Fire team deeper into the woods. Sergeant Lucain had ordered a Fire team to scout ahead while the rest of the platoon made camp. The platoon was on a long range scout mission, and had approval to engage any threat they encountered. Lucain wanted to know what was up ahead, and if the intel they got off the boy was correct, there would be more Orks further in the woods. The trail the Orks left was clearly visible, large footprints could be made out in the dirt. Corion led his 4 men along the trail, if his estimates were right, they would be at the house in a couple of minutes. There should be more Orks over there.

Trooper Wess was at the tail of the line, and watched the rear. Corion could sense the young trooper's fear. It was one of the new recruits which the regiment acquired when the 17th merged with the 37th Breton Rifles. The 17th were a green regiment without experience, and with bad commanders. After their first encounter with the Eldar on Hoskan the 17th suffered 78% losses, and merged with the 37th. Wess held his lasgun with shivering hands, Corion confirmed his thoughts. Wess wasn't going to make it through this campaign.

In front of Wess was Trooper Allen, the demolition expert of the Corion's squad. He earned the nickname Kicker after knocking a chaos spawn unconscious witha food swing of his lasgun. In the middle of the line walked trooper Desmond, One of the platoon's Comm troopers. He lugged a of vox transmitter on his back, it's antennae strapped to the set. Desmond was reliable, and kept his calm even during the heaviest bombardement. Just behind Corion was Trroper Laroche, Corion's closest friend in the regiment. Wherever Corion went, Laroche would follow, they had each others backs.

The forests were quiet, except the chirping of birds, the wind blazing through the trees and the rustling of the leaves. The team made not a sound, beside the noise their equipment made when they moved.

"I'm picking something up on the auspex." Desmond said. "I can see six moving objects."

"We're close. Laroche said.

"Yeah. Let's spread out. Kicker, keep an eye on Wess." Corion waved his hand left and right, and the four others spread out. The 5 of them walked next to each-other, constantly leaving 5 steps in between them. Desmond's auspex kept on bleeping. Laroche signalled to get down, and Corion ran over where Laroche sat.

"There," Laroche whispered. "The house. I can count four outside, the other two must be inside the house. Engage?"

Corio weighed down his options. If he would signal the whole platoon to come up just to kill six Orks it wouldn't be appreciated. If they waited to long they risked the orks moving about. They had to act. Corion waved Desmond over.

"Send a message to Lucain. Tell 'im we found 'em and we are about to engage. Don't forget to send the coordinates."

Desmond immediately went about sending the message and conferring his map to send the right coordinates. A few quick presses on buttons, and a few whispered words later the message was sent. Desmond safely tucked everything away, and lugged the vox over his shoulders. Corion and Laroche already moved position, so Desmond kept his place in the line. He knew it had to go fast now. It wouldn't take long before those feral Orks picked up their scent.

Wess saw the orks and trembled at the sight. He hoped he wouldn't have to get up close to them. He tried to ease his shaking hands, but it was no good. He knew his shots would go wild again, just like last time on Hoskan. He saw the others being so calm, he wondered how they did that. He aimed through his sights and waited for Corion to fire the first shot. Corion knew those other two inside wouldn't come out unless for a fight, so they had to make some noise as to lure them out. He signalled Kicker to lob a frag grenade in, and quickly let off his first shot after that. Then his second, his third, and then the grenade exploded, resulting in one Ork ripped to pieces as the frag grenade exploded right under it's feet, and another knocked over.

"Engage!". Corion ordered, and Desmond, Laroche Allen and Corion all stormed down the slope and crossed the distance between them and the orks at the house. Wess was in awe, and despite his fear, he followed the others, ten steps later. They were all shooting their rifles at the green beasts, and before they could react, two of the orks were dead, and another knocked unconscious by the grenade blast. The only ork left standing threw his spear at the rushing guardsmen, but Laroche daftly dodged it, and Jumped boot first into the Ork. He remmed his lasgun's bayonet through the Ork's mouth and made a downwards sweep then a leftwards one, neatly severing half of the orks head. The ork was though though, and with half his brains hanging out, he kicked Laroche away like a human would kick a rat. Wess yelled out in fear at the ork's brain, and started shooting frantically in the ork's direction. Wess unintentionally killed the ork with three lucky shots at the ork's head, spraying it's brain's against the house's wall. Corion finished off the downed ork with five shots to it's head, and one through the throat.

The 5 guardsmen were breathing heavily, trying to catch their breath as they could hear the other two orks storming outside the house. Laroche was busy picking himself up, but the other's were ready, firing a hail of lass into the two storming brutes. They went down pretty quick.

"Wess, Desmond, Pile 'em and burn 'em." Corion ordered. The rest's on me. Corion entered the house and was greeted by the stench of death, and the filthy smell of orks. Corion and the others saw a messy room with upturned tables. Clearly the Orks had thrown a party in here. Laroche went into a side room, and quickly came out again, holding his hand in front of his mouth.

"I found the inhabitants." Laroche said coldly. Corion walked over next to Laroche and saw the dead bodies of a mother, father and two little girls. Well, he saw the body parts of them lying around. The orks had cut them apart, and started eating the arms and legs of the inhabitants. It was a gruesome scene, and when Allen came in to see, he spontaneously started to empty the content of his stomach over the kitchen floor.

Corion walked outside, where Wess and Desmond had piled the bodies of the Orks, and were busy spraying Promethium found in the tool shed next to the house.

"Found the inhabitants?" Wess asked.

Corion thought about answering, but then remembered Wess' fear of, well, almost everything.

"No." Corion answered. "Must have ran away."

"Oh..." Wess answered. I'm glad they ain't dead." Relief filled the 17 year old trooper.

Corion walked up to the pile of dead orks, and took out his box of match sticks. He lighted a Lho stick, and threw the burning wood onto the dead orks. Six years of service in the Guard, and he kept on seeing horrors, all over the galaxy. His hands were trembling, he did his best to hide his anger. A couple more drags from his Lho stick and he seemed to calm down.

He watched how the Orks went up in flames, their skin peeling off, and their bones turning to ash. He enjoyed the sight, and mumbled one word.

"Bastards."

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Chapter 1 - part 3

The tent was dark, and all but empty but for a table, two chairs and a light. There were two persons in it, the boy and and a Guard officer, but the boy didn't know who he was. The officer lighted his cigarette, and blew smoke in the air. The boy felt uneasy, the beam of light was fixed right on his face. The only thing he could see of the officer was his burning cigarette and the rank pin which flashed in the light. Slowly, the officer blew smoked in the air. The trail of smoke was clearly visible in the weirdly lit tent. The boy knew where he was. The soldiers took them to their base on his planet, Pruvia. Sergeant Lucain brought him in front of another guardsmen who then took him to see this officer. He had no idea what was about to happen.

"Look, this is just routine, don't worry." The officer said, blowing more smoke from his lips. "I am Colonel Heldane and I'm in command of the 37th Breton Rifles. But you can just call me Heldane. For now." The officer paused for a moment, taking out a pile of papers and a pen.
"I want to ask you several questions. " Heldane said. "And I want you to answer them honestly."

The boy nodded, not sure as what to expect.

"Good. Name?"

"Taan Isak" answered the boy.

"Age?"

"15"

The interview went on for half an hour, in which Isak had to answer to all kinds of trivial questions. In the end Colonel Heldane took Isak to the Master Surgeon for a major check up. The boy Isak was declared fit, healthy and strong. After that, Heldane had Isak's intelligence tested. It appeared Isak had an IQ of 121.

Afterwards, Colonel Heldane called Sergeant Lucain over. Lucain gave a sharp salute, and the Colonel showed lucain the papers and explained the situation. The two stood in quiet discussion, whille both looked over the results of the various tests Isak had endured. After a few minutes, it appeared they had come to a decision.

Isak's mind was elsewhere. He saw the soldiers milling about, doing whetever they were ordered. Others were just lazily hanging about, cleaning weapons,... Trucks were driving around and were eventually unloaded by soldiers stripped to the waist. Isak was shaken back to attention by Heldane's big strong hands.

"Isak." Heldane said. I don't think you will understand this, but... uh... we need soldiers. I'm having you adopted within the youth brigade. You will endure training to become a battle ready Guardsmen. I'm sorry."

Isak understood it well. He didn't understand why Heldane was so sad, it has been Isak's dream to join the army, and now his dreams have come true. Isak smiled and managed a salute. This took Colonel Heldane aback, he didn't expect this. Isak took one last look at Heldane as he was urged on by Sergeant Lucain to follow him to the Quartermaster for a uniform, then on to the Drillmaster. Isak would see Colonel Heldane again on his 18th birthday when he survived Youth Brigade and was ready to join the 37th Breton Rifles.

Excellently written, but 79% intelligence? He should maybe be a tad older as well.

Thanks.

I didn't really know where I was going with that inteligence test to be honest. Have you got an idea to change it?

And I'll make the boy older. I'll make him 15.

its good, a few minior things but those you seem to be aware of. Anyhow great reading this=)

Just make it a regular IQ-test and use a number around 100. 79 is mildly slowed, though if you want a stupid guardsman I won't stand in your way.

Thanks guys. One day I'll revise the whole thing and work out all errors.

@Beavies: Thanks, I'll change it.

Also, I think I need to make chapter 3 bigger. I want it to be 'chunkier'. I'll work on it soon.

I've edited part three. Now on to the second chapter. I also changed the chapters. the three previous parts are chapter 1.

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Chapter 2 - part 1

Corporal Corion ducked behind a pile of bricks, as shells flew over head. A trooper got hit right in the face while he was running forward, and toppled backwards on the pavement. The last offensive on Pruvia had started 2 hours ago. Corion had been there from the start, from the suburbs of this city to the heart of it. This was the Ork's last stronghold, their warboss was here somewhere, and they had to kill it. Along with the 37th Breton Rifles were the 17th Khazak Infantry, an renowned regiment within the crusade, the 128th Breton Armored, and the last remaining elements of the Pruvian PDF. This made a total of 20000 Guardsmen and about a hundred armored vehicles. The battle was hard up till now, and it still was. To break through the lines was a hard thing to do. If it wasn't for the spear-tip of the 128th Armored, casualties would have been much higher.

Laroche, Wess, Allen and Desmond were close by sharing as much cover as they could. The Orks they had been fighting before were feral ones, which had no idea what a gun was. These ones however, found a weapons factory and decided to make use of it. Along with Corion's fire team were two members of the PDF, Leyden and Juergens. They were lugging a heavy stubber with them they had found on some dead PDF soldiers. The 37th Breton Rifles were leading the way in this sector with a detachment of PDF and about 15 Leman Russ Battle tanks. The Infantry had gotten ahead of the tanks, which had to drive around to find a better route. This left the infantry with even less cover then before. The casualties were heaping up, but there were plenty of guardsmen to go around.

"Form a line!" Sergeant Lucain ordered. Suppressive fire on those guns!"

The combined platoon of Breton and PDF formed a line along a stretch of road. The building block up ahead was flattened and held around 30 orks with heavy guns. Luckily for the guardsmen, there were around 50 of them, and they could shoot much better then an ork. Corion and Laroch started picking shots at the closest orks. Wess hadn't quite overcome his fear for battle and was covering his ears behind a wall. Allen tried picking him up and got some succes. Wess aimed with shaking hands and put a few shots through an ork.

"Get the Stubber working." Snapped Corion. Juergens quickly deployed the Heavy Stubber and Leyden belt fed it. They sprayed a section of the building ahead, shredding a pair of orks in the process. They kept up their fire with small bursts of stub rounds. The orks returned the fire with unrelenting force. A trooper wearing the green fatigues of the Breton Rifles was blasted apart by a burst of machine gun shells. Sergeant Lucain bellowed in rage as the trooper next to him had his torso shot through. The trooper dropped in a pool of blood. Another Heavy stubber opened up, shredding more orks to pieces. The Imperials kept up they're fire until the return fire slackened. Happy with the results, Lucain ordered a frontal assault, with the Torch Boys leading the attack. They had to get control of this building to get closer to the city's heart.

The orks, all behind cover cowering from the Imperial fire, noticed that the amount of fire coming their way has slackened, and started pocking themselves up. A few snap shots were fired towards the Guardsmen which resulted in a PDF trooper and a Breton trooper dropping dead on the ground. The flamers got in range, and great gouts of fire licked at the ork defenders. Most of the surviving orks were burned to death, with the few remaining ones stabbed and hacked to death in close quarter fighting. Laroche stabbed his bayonet through an ork's chin, then fired his laspistol though it's gut. From this close, the lasbolt cut straight through the ork. A PDF trooper flew through the room. Curious, Corion Laroche and Wess went to the source of this aggression. A large bullish ork, who had to be the leader of this gang, was knocking troopers dead with his large hammer. Corion shot at it a few times, but to no avail. The ork went straight towards Laroche, who prepared to meet it head-on, knowing he would not survive it. But salvation came from an unexpected corner. Wess had managed to sneak behind the ork and was now clinging on to it's back. The ork tried to pull him off, but to no avail. Wess stabbed the ork's head at least a dozen times. Then he cooked a grenade and drooped it in the ork's trousers.

Wess jumped off as quick as he could and covered up his head. The Ork disappeared in a red mist. The grenade's explosive sound marked the end of the skirmish. They had succesfully taken this building, and were now one step closer to victory. Lucain had Desmond signal Colonel Heldane that they reached the objective and were now waiting for the next. Heldane didn't respond immediately, and the vox was filled with static. Lucain decided to reached the Armored units instead. They were 15 minutes behind, and were engaging Orks to the South-East of them.

Lucain was called over by a trooper, and he saw what the trooper was pointing at. Lucain saw a massive maze of trenches, cramped with orks ready for battle. They must be really close now. Lucain had them waiting until the Armored units arrived. Until that time came, the platoon dug in and started firing down on the orks. Most of the orks didn't seem to respond in an orkish way. They seemed to be waiting in trenches. Obviously the warboss must be close by, unless the orks have grown soft. though there were few who started assaulting the buidling, those were quickly shot down as the moved though no-man's-land between the two positions.

Chapter 2 - Continued

Two Bretons died in an explosion, a stik grenade exploding in a fiery ball of death. Another Pruvian was thrown back as a bullet tore through his chest. Sergeant Lucain saw a man sob in despair, his head between his knees.

"Get up, you bastard" He yelled over the gunfire, hoisting up the trooper and pushing the Pruvian towards the firing line. "Keep up the goddamned fire, the tanks will be here any minute."

Juergens and Leyden were almost down to the last belt of ammo for their stubber, and Juergens did his best to get as much kill shots out of it as he could. Wess, his ears still ringing from the grenade blast earlier, was suddenly released from the grip of fear and was fanatically shouting curses at the orks while firing hot las at them. The air was thick with smoke, and the stench of burned ork skin. This unnerved some of the Pruvians, but the Bretons were used to a war. Desmond got his leg blown off as he slipped in a pool of ork blood, a large calibre bullet neatly severing the shin from the kneecap. He howled in pain while Corion dragged him into cover. Corion was trying hard to restrain him while he called for a medic. He wondered if they had any left.

Lucain's Com's officer confirmed that another Breton platoon was to their left, and a Khazak platoon to their right. There was a massive imperial wariest standing ready to receive the order to surge forward and attack the ork lines, and kill the warboss. But until the tanks arrived, they had to hold a line, a line sergeant Lucain swore to keep. Apparently, the Khazak platoon brought some mortars with them, and they were pounding the orks into oblivion. Dozens of the orks died in the trenches before a large group of them decided to rush forward into an attack. But the Imperial Guard was ready, Heavy stubbers, mortars grenade launchers and lasguns all kept firing. None of the orks that attacked reached the Imperial lines.

The orks took this moment to shape up again, and more ork fire came at the Guardsmen as the mortars readjusted to pound the trenches again. Wess quickly ducked down into cover, fear getting the better hand of him again. Few guardsmen died, as the orks saw shat was coming for them. The Guard had surrounded the last stronghold of the orks, and all along the lines, Imperial tanks were moving into attack position.

"Colonel Daggerhorn, calling all infantry units. My tanks are in position." The guardsmen rejoiced as this message came through the vox. "Prepare to follow us in. Let's crush those filthy greenskins under our boots. Forward, for The God - Emperor. Over."

20000 Guardsmen surged out towards the ork lines, led by dozens of battle tanks. The remaining fight was over pretty quickly. The orks were either blown to pieces, or shot or struck through with Imperial steel. The Guard made a glorious victory on Pruvia, and the cleanup actions were left to 3 other guard regiments, while the Bretons and Khazak troops shipped in and left for another war. Those of the Pruvian PDF who survived had the choice to join the Breton ranks, and as a result, the Breton 37th Infantry had an influx of about 300 extra troopers. The war on Pruvia was over, and the regiment had a chance to recover before their next engagement.

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Thanks for reading. I'd love some C&C. But this is not the end, this is just the rough start of a novel I'm working on. I'll have to get the many flaws fixed in the already written text though. Stay tuned for the next part, which will be posted soon.

Chapter 3

The giant doors of the Strategium slid open before Colonel Heldane. He had been summoned for another war council, orders from Terra had come through. The 37th Breton were part of the Tauros Crusade, a campaign to recapture the Taurus Arm Worlds. It was a large piece of space, with 198 habited worlds the Crusade force had to retake. The 37th was part of the 4th battle group, an armed force consisting of 10 Imperial Guard regiments, a Mechanicum detachment, a small Space Marine force of the howling griffons chapter and a Inquisition team. Under Commander Hefaiston, the 4th Battle group had achieved much glory, but The Taurus Arm wasn't conquered yet. Heldane stood in awe as the giant doors slid open. After 3 years on this ship he still marveled at the wonders of The Fist of Justice , a large troop carrier designed to cary 3 Imperial Guard Regiments. He entered the large room as the doors were half opened, and was greeted by an honor guard of 4 Khazak Infantrymen. He wondered what world they were about to take now. He saw Commander Hefaiston, Colonel Crimea of the Khazak 17th and his orderly. Crimea nodded at Heldane with respect, they fought together on 4 worlds. Next to them was Colonel Dubois, a fellow Breton in command of the 99th Breton Infantry who cracked a warm smile at Heldane. There were various other personnel in the Stategium. He saw Mechanicum adepts, Munitorum intendants, Officers of the fleet, the ship captain, Drecker.

Hefaiston looked up from the large holo chart, and greeted Heldane with a curt nod of acknowledgment.

"Ah, everyone's present." Hefaiston began. "Let us begin our new war council.

Everyone gathered around the Holo Chart as Hefaiston's orderly focused the projector on a new planet.

"Bollano, gentlemen." Hefaiston began. "I've got orders to take it.

Colonel Heldane studied the charts of the planet, wondering how many men he would lose this campaign.

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4 Months later.

The sound of bombardment was everlasting. Most of the men had grown used to it, others were less appreciative, going in a frenzy to let the noise stop. The conditions weren't what they said at the briefing either. What was supposed to be a swift and decisive victory, was now a grinding trench battle. The Imperial forces had surounded every major city in the past 2 months, but were still besieging them. Chaos had already taken it's root in the planet long before Imperial Retribution arrived.

Corion and Laroche sat huddled in a dugout, sheltering from the rain. Allen, and Juergens were there too. Leyden was dead, shot by a sniper. Desmond was still onboard the Fist recovering from his augmetic implantation. Wess was wounded, but not severely. He could get back to the line in a week's time, but no doubt he'll try to stretch it. Juergens and Allan were manning the Heavy stubber, overlooking the lines, while Corion, Laroche and another Breton named Mihau were playing a game of cards.

"Emperor's teeth, when will they stop bombing 'em." Laroche said. "They've been at it for the last 2 months, won't they run out of shells?"

"It's more likely we're to run out of mud first, Laroche." Corion answered. "The Guard has an infinite supply of shells. But if you prefer to run at those lines with your lasgun yelling your lungs out, only to die half way there, be my guest."

"You know what I mean sir. The waiting, the damn waiting. That's what'll kill us."

"Leyden got shot taking a peek over the trench wall remember?" Allen joined the conversation. The waiting does kill."

Corion was shaking his head left to right, sighing.

"You don't get it." he started. "We are much safer here, then anywhere else. There's no las of solid shot coming at us, as long as we stay in this here dugout. I'll gladly wait."

"There's simply no arguing with you, sir." Mihau said.

Corion cracked his warming smile again.

"Now that's something I can agree with." He laughed.

I really like this, just one thing I noticed is that you have someone calling a sgt sir, or sah, however, IRL armies this isn't done as they are a non-commisioned officer from the ranks, and only officers with a commission are called sir. It may be different in the guard, just something I thought I should say. Otherwise I'm enjoying it

Chapter 3 - Continued

Two weeks later

The trooper next to Corion had his head blown off by flying shrapnel, and dropped like a bag of potatoes. The blood splattered on Corion and the next man in the trench, spraying the trench walls blood red. The rain had stopped for a while, but it was still raining bombs. The Chaos forces under the traitor governor Krall had launched another assault in order to try and break the siefe at North-Kragg hive. Corion wondered where all those troops came from, they had been shelling the hive for over 2 months now. He had gone through three power cells already, yet there seemed no end to the assault. They had left the safety of the dugout and headed for the front line 15 meters ahead.

Laroche was directing the mortar teams 50 meters back, yelling coordinates over the vox. Juergens and Allen were handling the stubber, though they were likely to run out of shells if it stayed like this. The traitors were almost upon them, and the order to fix bayonets came through. There had been word that reinforcements were about to arrive as well, that meant the Imperial Forces will attempt an assault of themselves after this one was fended off.

"Fix bayonets!" Corion yelled. "Let's give those fragheads a welcome with cold Breton steel!"

The men manning this section of trenchline all fixed their bayonets, a group of 15 guardsmen. They were close by now, only 20 steps ahead. The Imperials pumped as much las and stubs in the advancing bodies as they could, dropping heaps of traitors and creating piles of dead. When the first trooper reached the trench, Laroche gutted him with his bayonet, shooting for good measure too. More were jumping in the trench, and the fighting was at it's most bloody stage. Corion slashed his bayonet up and down, opening a traitor's belly. The fighting was furious, but the Imperials had the upper hand. A Breton was run through by a chainsword wielding traitor, who Juergens shot through the head with a laspistol. The fighting suddenly ended as no traitor's were jumping in the trench anymore. Corion wondered what happened, there were loads of 'em minutes ago. The he saw it, The Breton 99th Infantry was running forward, the Regimental banner proudly carried forth. The order to assault came through, and a third of the 37th Breton and the complete 99th surged forward, towards the hive city. Had the final stage of this siege finally come?

Chapter 3 - Continued

Corion's lungs were pumping, the rain falling down hard upon him. All around him, his kinsmen were running forward en masse. Here and there, a trooper was brought low by incoming gunfire or a mortar shell. Two troopers in front of Corion were blown apart by an enemy field gun, body parts and rain both showering the ground. Mihau was blasted apart by incoming stubber fire, his lifeless body danced as shells hit him before he finally dropped. He was going to die, Corion thought. A career with the Imperial Guard could end as abruptly as it started. Laroche huddled in a crater filled with water, reaching to his shoulders. Corion jumped in beside him, a splash of water as a result.

"Fine morning." Laroche said.
"Piss off" Corion checked his gear, making sure everything was still there.
"We can't stay here for long, Laroche."
"Yeah. Well, You go on ahead, I have to take a breath for a while."
"Nice try buddy." Corion said, reaching under the arm of laroche to pull him up. Corion noticed a red fluid mixing with the filthy water.
"I think I need a medic." Laroche said.
Corion was taken aback as he saw his best friend's wounds.
"Gak! Medic. I need a medic!"

Corion kept yelling for help until finally a medic arrived. He wouldn't want to leave his friends side, but the medic urged him on, telling him he needed the space. Corion leapt over the crater's lip, hoping he wouldn't lose his best friend. This holdup had seen him behind, and he couldn't see anybody of his unit. He decided just to follow the horde of guardsmen ahead.

Juergens, Allen, Wess and the first wave of guardsmen were just a few steps away from the trench line. Through the rain and they mist, the could see the massive form of the Hive city up ahead. This was the last trench that separated the Imperials from the Hive, and they were hell bent to take it. Juergens threw a grenade that fell smack in the middle of the trench, blowing up a small section as a box of stick grenades went off in the explosion. Others followed his example, and more grenades were chucked in, forcing the traitors to keep their heads down. After the barrage, the Imperials jumped in and started hacking away at the Traitors in the trench line. The enemy wore grey uniforms stained by the mud, and were equipped with old and battered gear. An axe wielding traitor charged at Wess, but he ducked to avoid the blow and stabbed the traitor at a gap in his defense, effectively gutting the filthy heretic. The ground was slippery with mud and blood, and so Allen fell over as he charged the enemy. Luckily, he was covered by two others, who kept firing until he was in cover. A flamethrower exploded, burning 2 imperials and a traitor to death. Only a minute in the fight, and uncountable gallons of blood were spilled. A Breton Captain, a man named Flynn, in control of their company, swung a power-sword and chopped the head clean off a traitor's shoulders. He continued to swing his sword left to right until he took a lasbolt to the knee, and even then he fought on like a caged lion. Another Breton was run through by a vile sword, he gurgled his last breaths before he dropped head first in the mud. The section of the trench was almost theirs, they only had to neutralize a nearby mortar emplacement. Lucily, Captain Flynn only took a half strength lasbolt from far away, resulting in third degree burns. He limped on, leading 2 dozens of nearby Bretons towards the booming sights of the mortar emplacement.

Three mortars were lobbing shells into no man's land, killing Guardsmen by the dozens. It was necessary to take it out. The emplacement was well guarded, and enemy fire washed over the Imperials. The three first Bretons were cut down by enemy fire. Allen primed a demo-charge, and cleanly threw it over the heads of his comrades. The explosion resulted to the death of 6 Traitors' opening a gap in the emplacement's defenses for them to charge through. The fight was over pretty soon. The dazed defenders couldn't get an organized defense up, and so were cut down pretty quickly. Captain Flynn dropped a primed grenade in the barrel of the first field gun, going to ground to protect himself from the explosion. He ordered the same done for the two other field guns. After they blew up, the only things that could be heard was the sound of small arms fire as the Guardsmen killed off the last enemy resistance, the never ending sound of rain, and the screams of the wounded and dying.

Now this was a proper IG story! I really enjoyed it, keep it comming

@Trondheim: Thanks!
@Meridia: Thanks for the advice!

Chapter 3 - Continued

Three days later.

The guard had taken three days rest to treat the wounded and to prepare the captured trenches for the final assault on the hive. Massive dugouts were made to get giant siege guns in. Without those they would never be able to take the hive. The Khazak 89th Siege Regiment made good work, and most of the trenches were repaired, and all the siege guns were placed. It wouldn't be long for the final assault.

Colonel Heldane Discussed the tactics with his fellow commanders. Colonels Dubois and Crimea were there. Other commanders were Colonel Sharpe of the 89th Khazak Siege Regiment, Colonel Mkteesh of the Breton 6th Armored regiment, and 5 other colonels. The commanders were discussing their plans as an Imperial Documentarist scribbled down what was said with his mnemo quill. The quill danced on the paper like a swan on ice. They gathered around a Holo Map of the surrounding area in a concrete dugout, called the Command Bunker. The bunker was lit with yellow lighting, and most of the officers were smoking. The smoke filled up most of the vision. In a corner, a Coms Officer was monitoring the Coms traffic, and passing through orders. The sound of chatter mixed with the almost happy commanders. They were happy this siege was almost done, but hated how much lives had been lost and how much more will be lost in the next and final stage of the siege.

Colonel Heldane had heard it all, the meeting was over a while ago, but the others kept complaining about orders. It didn't matter of you complained, your orders would not change anyway. He dearly wanted to take his leave, he hated it here. He wanted to be on the line, ready to coordinate the attack or command a defense as yet another wave of heretics charged at them. Statistics showed that the Guard would be ready to assault the Hive by tomorrow morning, and so they made the plans accordingly. That meant there were only 12 hours before the final assault, an all or nothing attack on the hive. He hoped The Emperor would watch over them all, especially over his boys.

Corion linked up with the rest of his squad last evening. He finally found them and received three replacing Guardsmen to cover the casualties they had taken. Trooper Mctann, Jethro and Quinten joined ranks with Corporal Corion, Juergens Allen and Wess. The seven Guardsmen filled a section of trench alongside other guardsmen. Allen and Wess were outside, standing watch, while the rest was getting to know each other in the dugout. While the others chatted up, Corion kept himself apart from the others, mourning the loss of his friend. He didn't know if he made it or not, and theta meant he had to go in that hive without his best friend to watch his back. The 31 year old corporal had a sharp and lean face, and had a weary yet muscular build for a man as thin as him. The only thing he could think about was how to stay alive.

Chapter 3 - Continued

The next day.

The assault had began two hours ago. It only took the best part of a n hour for the siege guns to break the hive walls and it's defenses. Most of them were down, but there were still pockmarks of resistance. The reason why they hadn't bombed the hell out of it, was that the hive possessed a valuable ore mine. High command wanted it back in Imperial hands. The Guard had put 5 Regiments through the breaches, and left the artillery regiments behind, and another 2 regiments as reserve. Mkteesh and his armored regiment were leading the way for the 37th Breton Infantry, but the enemy still had a decent amount of tanks. A leman Rus Battle tank blew a whole through an archenemy's battle tank, and it resulted in a great gout of flame as the round went off in the middle of the tank. It bursted at it's seams and pulverized in thousands of parts. The Imperial Battle Tanks deployed in a battle tank 2 tanks deep, with Infantry in support from the rear. The tanks had to crack the hard nuts, and leave the infantry for the Guard to clean up. But luckily for the Guard, the TAnks didn't leave much behind.

The Guard only just entered the Hive, and were at it's borders just inside the walls. The Giant figure of the hive spire doomed before them. How in the name of the Sacred Throne were they going to clean that all out? An enemy battle tank took out an Imperial one, it's tracks destroyed. It remained behind, awaiting repairs. Corion and the rest of his Fire team were dug in behind cover. They had to clear out a flattened hab block. They fought atop of the rubble, dislodging body parts with every step they took on the treacherous stones. Mctan and Juergens were covering Quinten and Jethro's run for cover a few steps further. Mctann dropped a heretic with a shot to the chest.

"Keep up the pressure!" Corion yelled.

A stick grenade was thrown right at Wess's feet. He panicked, and picked the grenade up, throwing it back at the thrower. It exploded right above the ground, showering three traitors with pieces of shrapnel. Corion looked at the uniforms of the enemy. They wore the defiled uniforms of the Bollano PDF, a grey battle dress with leather armor. It didn't absorb lasbolts like flak armor did, but it was something. He snapped back to the fight, taking out another traitor. This heresy would be purged by las and flame. Allen was pinned won further ahead, that's why Corion sent Jetho and Quinten up ahead. When the got within position, he sent Juergens and Mctann as well. Allen was out of ammo, and could do nothing as the enemy was surrounding him for the kill. The rest of the fire team was doing their best to help him. Jethro was killed as a lasround hit his chest, a clean whole punched right through. He fell down on his face.

"Let's punch 'em!" shouted Corion, and he charged head first into the closest traitor. The rest of his fire team followed suit, trying to diverge attention from their pinned comrade. Mctann slashed his bayonet through his opponent's throat, blood gushing out. Wess broke another's jaw with his rifle butt, but at the same time, Quinten got stabbed through the stomach. If he didn't get any help, he was going to bleed out soon. Corrion speared one with his bayonet, and shot him for good measure. He dodged a dirty sword hacking at his neck. He jumped to the left, and thrust his bayonet though the traitor's stomach, slashing the blade to the left making a huge gap where blood and organs were spraying out.

Suddenly the remaining and beaten traitor turned tail and ran. The ground shuddered, and a Demolisher Battle Tank appeared over the rubble. It fired it's main gun, vanishing 3 traitor's in one blast. The tank kept chasing the running infantry. Corrion used his vox bead to signal that the area was cleared while Mctann and Juergens were treating Quenten's stomach wound to the best of their ability's while Allen went on to check Jethro's body for ammo, grenades and rations. It would take three months and two weeks before the Imperials would take the Hive.

Chapter 4

The liberation of Bollano was a bloody war, resulting in countless Imperial Deaths. The 158th Breton Infantry was reduced to 10% of it's initial strength, leaving the 300 remaining Guardsmen to be merged into the 37th, raising it's strength back up to 1600 men. The new influx saw Corion's section with some new recruits. Not a lot of guys from the initial founding were still alive, but there were still some old faces. Allan got through Bollano unscathed, Laroche was back after taking a shot to the chest, leaving a big scar but no lasting injuries. Desmond was back from The medicae ship finally able to walk on his augmetic leg. Along with Corion, these were the only surviving men from the initial founding. There was also Wess, who took a lasbolt to the hip and as a result, had needed a hip reconstruction. Juergens, the sections heavy weapons specialist, he had become quite handy with a bazooka. Mctann, a solid infantryman, always to be counted on. Then there was Trooper Doyl and Stenfeld, followed by Corpsman Cail. These ten men made up Corion's new section.

The 4th armygroup was on there way to the next cluster of worlds, the Justari cluster, holding 3 worlds that needed cleared of Chaos. Colonel Heldane Personally handled all the desk work for the regiment, and commended Captain Flynn for a medal. He did some fine work during the siege. He was smoking a cigar in the officers dining room aboard the troop carrier. Officers were relaxing and chatting to each other. Probably sharing war stories. Imperial Tacticians estimated that the Justari cluster would be cleared in half a year, of the full forces of the 4th army were to be deployed. Rumors were there was a resistance cell operating on the world they were heading to, Justari Prime. If these rumors were true, Heldane had to make sure to contact this cell, first thing on the planet. It didn't look like it, but they were to arrive in a day. Heldane felt his annoying habit coming back, tapping his feet.

Corion's sector were billeted in a generously sized barracks room. There was room for 30 men, but the 17th was depleted, so it didn't fill all the beds. Corrion ordered his section to clean kit, so his men were running over lasgun parts with a fizzy cloth, checking sidearms, most of them trophies from past battles. Desmond was fiddling with his caster set. Corrion was glad to be having a vox opperator again, as wel as having a corpsman. When gak came down on them, Cail wouldn't be that far away.

Captain Flynn, Corion's company commander, entered the barrack and all ten of them stood to attention.

"Get a shave, lads." Flynn said. "We're arriving tomorrow, drop's at 06.00 Imperial."

"Sir." Corion saluted. "Kit's checked and ready. We're ready for war sir."

Corion knew full wel they weren't. It was a long road. Gakking too long, all they way from Breton to here. Corion just wanted it to end. He wanted to go home, raise a family. Guard-life he remembered. No happy ending.

"Good." Flynn said before leaving. "Good luck tomorrow."

Chapter 5

The drop had been easy for them, they were to be deployed in the forests of Justari Prime, unlike the rest of the 4th army group, who had to make combat drops into the cities of the planet. Justari Prime had a low population, so lacked the giant hive cities. The people mostly lived in small villages, and there were a dozen large cities. The 37th had orders to secure the forests in the highlands to deny passage to heretic armies passing there to reach the cities and reinforce. The regiment had deployed 2 days before, but had not yet made any hostile contact. To cover the large expanses of the highlands, each platoon had it's own sector, covering 20 square kilometers. Corion's platoon under command of the promoted Lieutenant Lucain was stationed at the top of a cliff, giving them a full view of the surrounding area. The platoon had two days to set up their camp before they would be given their first orders on this planet.

Corion had his men preparing for a 12 hour patrol through the surrounding forests. They were ordered to check for any enemy raiders within the sector, and eliminate them. Corion checked his own pack for the third time, and then rounded up his squad. the nine troopers assembled in formation in front of Corion, who gave the order to move out. Desmond threw the heavy vox caster over his shoulder, while Allen picked up the bag of spare rockets for Juergens bazooka. The squad passed the camp's perimeter, through the makeshift gate. 4 other troopers from the platoon standing as guards opened the gate to let them pass. Some cheerful whites of good luck were thorn at the squad. Then they began with the descent from the cliff, which was easy enough for the light infantry. They kept to the roads until the camp was well out of site. From now on, things would depend on corion's perception and intuition. They cut through the forests, passing old and dry trees that had been standing there for hundreds of years.

Corion locked at his chrono, two hours had already passed and they had covered a good distance. He reckoned the squad earned some rest.

"Squad, hold." he said. "Time for a break. Mctann, Stenfield, Wess, cover the area"

The three of them grunted their acknowledgment, after which they set out to cover the rest. Desmond, Juergens and Allen dropped their heavy loads to the ground.

"Vox our position back to base." Corion ordered.

Desmond made some adjustments on the dials of his caster, after which he spoke the coordinates and their intentions into the speaker horn. An acknowledgment came back and Desmond closed the channel. Corion and Laroche were resting with their backs to a large tree.

"How's the chest?" Corion asked.

"It looked better before I got shot you know."

Corion laughed and nodded.

"Obviously."

"I missed a lot on Bollano, I heard it was a mess."

"Uhu." Corion answered. "We lost around 500 men, I overheard an aide saying."

Corion remembered the fight in the slums, that had been particularly bloody. Corion didn't want to fish for more old memories, and he didn't got the chance to either. Corion could hear Mctann's voice through his microbe.

"Trouble."

Corion immediately went back on his feet, rousing the rest of the squad.

"You heard Mctann, Fireteam spread." Corion ordered.

Corio ran over to where Mctann, Wess and Stenfield were watching an old dirt road.

"I heard a rumble further down this dirt road. A truck maybe. Maybe two." Stenfield said. Stenfield had been a hunter back on Breton, Corion trusted him.

Laroche, Corion's second in command waved the rest of the squad over.

"We'll cover this road." Laroche said.

"There's a truck or two coming this way." Corion declared, and nodded at stenfield. "We'll cover this stretch of road. Juergens, Mctann, Stenfield and allen with me, the rest's with Laroche." Corion looked at Laroche and went on. "You'll head over there, that tree." Corion pointed. "See? You set up there When the trucks are between us we attack. Juergens will hit the first truck, blocking the road. We'll come in from the front, you'll be coming in from the back, sweeping for survivors. You will engage on my order, it might be friendlies after all."

Corion checked his men. They understood the orders and ordered them to move. They covered Laroche's team, and when they were set up, Corion chose an elevated position overlooking the road. Allan chucked in a rocket into Juergen's bazooka, who steadied the large tube and aimed it at the road. Allen, Stenfield and Mctan sat behind cover, lasrifles raised, ready to strike. Corion took out his binocularsand saw two trucks coming their way. Stenfield was right. He saw a chaos star proudly painted over the front hood of the first truck

"Chaos." Laroche spoke into the micro-bead.

"acknowledged."

Corion tucked away the binoculars and readied his lasgun, he set it on full auto. He saw the trucks coming closer and closer. He tapped Juergens's shoulder and told him to aim at the driver's cabin. Juergens took careful aim. The trucks came ever closer, vile paintings dabbed onto them.

"Fire."

Juergens pulled the trigger, sending a flying piece of explosive towards the lead truck. It hit the cabin head on, resulting in a fiery explosion killing the driver and a passenger instantly. The first truck was grounded to a halt. Laroche's team must be coming up from the rear now. He heard lasrifle, both from his team and Laroche's. Stenfield scored a clean kill with a neck-shot to one of the shaken enemy soldiers that jumped out of the back of the first truck. The explosion didn't destroy the whole truck. More of them were pouring out of it. Two more, then another four. Corion let off a burst of las that killed one, and clipped another's shoulders. Juergens slung the bazooka over his shoulder and drew his laspistol. Mctann killed another one with a clean shot to the throat. The enemy were getting their senses back he saw one of hem, presumably a leader of some sort ordering his men to return fire. Las was streaking their way, singing leaves and leaving burn-marks on the old trees. Allen Ducked behind a rock and cursed.

Laroche and the rest went forward as soon as he saw the explosion. They were shooting lasbolt into the second truck. This was probably a troop transport. There were around 12 men into the truck. An initial burst of the five Guardsmen descimated this amount. Of the remaining 9 heretics, 6 jumped out of the back while the other three stayed inside and covered their comrades, forcing Laroche's team into cover. The bastards had lasguns, so they were well supplied probably. Wess took a fleshwound to his shoulder. It left a third degree wound. Cail ran over to him, draging him behind cover.

"fething bastards!" Wess yelled, firing his lasrifle on full auto, killing two heretics. He was trying to get back up, despite Cail draging his arse back behind cover.

"Keep still, idiot." Cail said. "I'll patch you up again. It's nothing serious."

"Gak that!"

Now there was only Laroche, Doyl and Desmond. They jumped behind some cover while lasbolts streaked their way.

"Pass me a grenade, I've got a good view." Doyl said.

Laroche took a grenade off his belt and threw it at Doyl, who deftly caught it with his left hand. He took out the pin and cooked it. When he threw the grenade, it landed in the middle of a huddle of heretics, killing 4 of them with shrapnel, and knocking over the other two. Laroche ordered Doyl to follow him and Desmond the suppress the three shooters in the truck. Laroche and Doyl ran forward to the downed traitors, while Desmond fired on full auto into the truck, killing one of them, and forcing the rest into cover. Doyl and Laroche finished the sprawled heretics, bleeding from various wounds with their bayonets.

The heretics had Corion's team pinned down. The squad leader weighed down his options.

"Allen, load up another rocket." Corion ordered. "We'll cover Juergens as he takes the shot. Aim for the infantry."

Allen quickly crawled over to Juergens who shouldered his bazooka. Allen got out another rocket and slammed it into the tube. He tapped Juergen's shoulder.

"Ready."

"Covering fire!"

The four of them ripped off a salvo of las before Juergens pulled at the trigger firing another rocket at the infantry. The rocket splashed into a trooper which resulted into the man being ripped to pieces by the blast as well as the surrounding heretics. The blast left a smear of blood from the unlucky trooper, surrounded by body parts and dead troopers.

"Move up!" Corion ordered.

Laroche pulled out his trophy pistol, an autopistol which once belonged to a wealthy patrician on Bollano. His lasgun clip was dry. He edged forward to the trucks back opening. Edging closer and closer, covered by Doyl, he got snatched by a heretic trooper, and pulled into the truck. They couldn't see the surviving two heretics, it was dark inside the truck. Laroche lay on his back, and he sudenly gazed at the pockmarked face of a heretic. The trooper had burn marks on his face, and he only had one eye. e came at Laroche with a large skinning knife. Instincte took over and Laroche kicked the man's legs from under him. The heretic landed on his face and lay there, sprawled. Laroche got up and quickly fired three solid rounds into the other heretic. Blood squirted out of his neck as he hit the trooper two times in the chest and one time to the neck. He fell down, clutching his neckwound. By the time he touched the truck-floor, he was already dead. Laroche stalked over et the sprawled heretic, and turned him over. He gave him a good kick to the head for good measure before he fired two solid rounds into the man's face.

"Clear!" Laroche yelled, as he jumped back out.

Doyl loosely held his lasrifle by the trigger.

"Alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, their dead. Both of them."

Corion and his team ran over to the rest. Now everything was quiet, they could hear Wess cursing while Cail treated his burn wound.

"Secure the area." Corion set his men off.

"Let's check what they carried. Corion, Laroche and Doyle checked the two trucks for what they carried, and found only lasgun cells and freshly stamped lasguns. They should report this to base, chances were there was a factory nearby.

"Doyl jumped, as the doors of the second truck suddenly flew open. Two heretics jumped out and ran away.

"Keep them alive, I want prisoners." Corion yelled.

Doyl brought up his lasgun, adjusted the power setting and aimed for the legs. The first he hit in the shin, dropping him to the ground. The other was hit in his upper leg. Corion and Laroche ran over. The first of the pair grabbed for a stub pistol. Corion quickly stabbed him to death with his bayonet. The other was whimpering. He didn't appear to be having any weapons. Laroche jumped on him holding him down. The heretic yelled out in fear and pain.

"Keep still, bastard!"

Corion tied his hands down with some rope, after that, Laroche got off the heretic, who had gone quiet. They turned him over. He appeared to be young, too young to fight. They would easilly crack him open for information.

Mctann reported back and told the area was clear.

"Assemble the men".

When all were present, Corion staed his intentions.

"We caught a live one." he said. "We need to get him back to base. It's only a 2 hour walk and we still have some patrolling to do. Wess is wounded so we have to get wass and the heretic back either way."

Caill had patched Wess as best as he could. He had cleaned the wound, bandaged it up and gave Wess some painkillers.

"Desmond, warn basecamp, I'm sending some men back." Corion continued. "Laroche, Wess and Stenfield, you will take the prisoner back to camp. You can stay there, you won't be able catch up with us after you arrive there. I chose you because you are reliable. Get home safe. Move out."

The three troopers and the prisoner went back on their trails. Loaroche violently pushed the young prisoner forward. When they were out of view, Corion ordered to blow up the trucks. These freshly stamped enemy guns wouldn't be fired anymore. After the charges were laid, Corion ordered the squad forward. The charges went off five minutes later, but the fire-team was back in the forests, well clear of the destruction they left behind.

Chapter 5 - Continued

After completing their patrol, The squad had returned o base. The climb was harder then first, they just patrolled 20 square kilometers of forests. Their patrol was fruitful though. They destroyed a heretic weapons caravan, and had sent a prisoner back to camp. Corion wondered what was happening to the prisoner now. Corion hailed the guards, who let them pass. It was getting evening but it was still hot, and the birds were chirping. Cail Immediately went to the field infirmary to check up on Wess, his burn marks had been treated very well in the time being. Lieutenant Lucain saw Corion entering the base, and approached him, greeting him with a tight salute which was returned by Corion.

"The prisoner broke quiet easily." Lucain said, pointing at a young and beaten prisoner tied to a pole. "He said there was a hidden camp somewhere in the rocks up there. About 3 kilometers ahead. Laroche kept me up to speed with your actions untill the ambush you set up. I want you to asses to me what you discovered on your patrol in 15 minutes Sergeant."

"Yes Sir." Corion saluted again, and headed back for the barracks.

He goaded his men there as well, once inside, most of them slumped on their beds, ditching their packs. Corion took out a Lho Stick and sat on his bed. He lighted it and took a drag, inhaling deeply. He lied down on his cot, looking up at the ceiling. It had been an easy day, only Wess took a hit. Considering what they achieved. The ambush on the trucks had probably slowed their advance through the woods another day. He took a sip from his canteen and got back up. It was bloody hot, so he took off his shirt, leaving his flack vest on. His bare arms were shining wet from sweat. He slung his webbing over his shoulder and secured it, using his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Laroche, Stenfield and Lucain were standing over the tied up prisoner when Corion joined them for the debriefing. Lucain saw Corion coming and greeted him.

"Sir, The patrol was very interesting, We took out a weapons caravan on this location." He showed Lucain the place with his fingers. "We Also encountered an abandoned radio station here, but everything inside was destroyed. We patrolled a lot of forests out there but we didn't find anymore interesting stuff."

Well done Corion." Lucain answered. '"Our prisoner here pointed us out the exact location of their camp. He says there's a garrison of about 40 men."

The prisoner was weeping. His face was a pulp. How old could he have been, 17?

"I want your squad, along with 5 men from Sergeant Judah's squad to raid that base. I don't expect 15 men to destroy a base with 40 men, but I just want you to disrupt their activities. I don't think they know of our location, and I want you to be careful not to lead them to our base. You will go under cover from dark. Travel lightly, it's just and in and out mission. Possible objectives are weapons caches, communications, motor pools, etc. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Corion said.

"Good, you'll go at 0100 this night. You have 6 hours to prepare your men."

"What of him sir?" Laroche asked?

Lucain handed over his laspistol to Trooper Stenfield.

"Kill him."

Stenfield took a look at the kid. He wondered why he hadn't joined the resistance. It didn't matter now, he was chaos filth. He raised the pistol, the kid was looking up at him, a brave expression on his face. Stenfield pulled the trigger, and shot a lasbolt through the kid's eyes. After that, he gave the pistol back to Lucain, and saluted.

Chapter 5 - Constinued

Under cover of the night, the 15 men silently crept through the woods. Along with Corion's men there was Hefron, Tobar, Harjan, Gardner and Forjaz who had been ordered to tag along. The Unit had ditched all their heavy pack to pick they're way through the woods more easily, and soother they're blades, pins and other shiny objects so as not to give the enemy a chance to see them. Corion, Stenfield and Doyl had taken the lead, and were scouting ahead of the main force now in command of Laroche for the time being. They silently crept forward. The unit had sighted two enemy patrols already and counted 12 hostiles so far, that meant they had to be close, and that the garrison was reduced by 12 men. They had expertly crawled past the patrols, they didn't want any attention yet.

Corion saw Stenfield's hand urging them to hold. No doubt his sharp eyes had seen something, maybe another patrol. He ran over to Stenfield, shoulders hunched and head down.

"What's over there?" He asked

"I think it's the enemy base." Stenfield replied. "I can see a motor pool there" he pointed. "And some sentries there."

Corion made out a vox array through the trees.

"Sharp eyes." Corion complemented. "Doyl, go get the squad."

Stenfield and Corion waited together for a couple of minutes, laying low. He felt Laroche drop next to him asking what to do.

"There's our objective." Corion said, waving with his hand. We go in quietly and take it. We split in groups of five. I'll take Doyl, Cail, Forjaz and Harjan. We'll take out the vox network. You'll take Juergens, Hefron, Tobar, and Wess and take out that motor pool. Allan will lead the other team, and they will act as a cover."

Allan nodded his approval from nearby, and Corion fixed his attention to the veteran.

"If anything happens, you'll break us out guns blazing. But of everything goes as planned, you'll stay here and provide cover fire as we pull out." Corion said. "I also need you to keep an eye out for those enemy patrols. If they pass here give us a heads up."

"Aye sir." Allen acknowledged.

More explanation was not needed. The combined men of the various combined Breton 37th had been fighting for 6 years, with exception of Wess, having recently been promoted out of the youth brigade of his previous regiment. They all knew what needed to be done. Allan's men took up good covering positions, while the two assault teams gained in on the enemy outpost. The two teams under command of Corion and Laroche silently crept up close to the enemy. The motor pool was guarded by two men, and Laroche ordered Wess and Tobar to take them out using their bayonets. Tobar quickly slit the throat of the first one, holding a hand over the gasping heretic as he took his last breath. Wess followed his example and waved the clear signal to the rest of the men. Now the sentries were gone, Corion could advance to the vox post without the risk of being shot at.

Corion slammed against the wall next to the closed door of the vox post, knowing that Laroche was setting up explosives to the trucks. They would blow when the unit left the area, at a press of a thump on an igniter. Corion ordered Doyl to kick in the door, and Harjan and Forjaz to rush in taking out any hostiles. The door went open with a kick of Doyl's leg. Backing up, Forjaz and Harjan rushed the room and were greeted by some quick lasbolts. Someone was firing his laspistol at them. The shots were rushed though, and they missed their target, giving Forjaz an opportunity to take out the gunman, a lasbolt to the chest doing the trick. Corion wished that there would be no need for gunfire, but that hope was gone now. Soon, the complete garrison would set upon them. He knew he had to cut the wires soon, lest they warn those patrols and get them to help. Another 12 men to deal with wasn't something Corion hoped for.

Laroche was setting an explosive to the belly of a truck, and he set Juergens off to do the same to the other truck. Hefron, Tobar and Wess covered the bomb-layers. Laroche heard the gunfire, and hoped for a good ending. They would have to be fast now.

There were three others in the vox room, who were quickly dispensed with. Harjan and Cail finished them off with lasbolts while Corion headed for the master vox. He reached for his satchel and fished out a demo charge, tossing it at Forjaz.

"Wire this to the array on the roof." Corion urged him on. "Doyl will cover you."

The two men ran out heading for the array, while Corion set to work fiddling with the massive caster set while Harjan and Cail covered him. He ripped away some wires and kicked at it with his lasrifle. For good measure he shot some bolt through it as well. His vox chirped and he could hear Forjaz through his left ear.

"Charges set sir." Forjaz said.

"Get back here." He answered.

Laroche voxed in as well. He wanted to blow the trucks now, he was being attacked by heretics. Corion acknowledged his request and when Forjaz and Doyl returned they headed back outside ready to meet up with laroche.

Laroche got his men back behind some sandbag walls and watched as 8 heretics rushed for them. He had the igniter in his hand and was waiting for the right moment. As soon as the heretics were passing the rigged trucks he pressed his thumb down, resulting in blazing explosion and the death of the assaulting heretics. He saw Corion's lot heading out of the vox building, Forjaz clutching an igniter himself. When they were well clear, he pressed it, the explosion snapping the vox mast cleanly in two. Nobody was going to use that anymore. The explosives had surely warned those patrols back, so they had to hury back now.

When Laroche and Corion were heading back for the treeline, he saw Allan and Desmond standing up and waving for them. Corion rushed ahead and kneeled down beside them.

"Incoming message from Base, sir. "Desmond said. "Lucain says the base is under attack. At least 60 bad guys."

"gak!" Corion cursed.

"Where the hell have they come from?" Laroche asked

"Time for that later, We're heading back for base."

Chapter 5 - continued

The combined squad had been running for half an hour, and they could hear the crump of small callibre mortars pounding and the heavy kick of stubber fire. They had'nt come across those two patrols they saw earlier, but Corion reckoned they had headed for the Imperial Outpost under command of Lieutenant Lucain. He could see the cliff already, and he saw four enemy mortars spitting death at the outpost. They were positioned right at the edge of the woods, and Corion spread his men in a loose line to assault the mortars.

Return fire was coming from the oupost, but it was weak compared to what was flying at them. Under cover of te mortars, at least 50 hostiles were charching up the cliff. The defenders gave them a rough going though, Two well placed stubber teams were spraying the downhill. Corion saw a wall take a direct hit and collapse creating a gap in which the enemy could rush through. Corion used his binoculars to see Lieutenant Lucain waving a laspistol and directing men to the gap.

"Emperor's teeth!" Corion yelled. "Take out those mortars!"

Another shell hit the outpost, killing two men in the blast. The outpost was left with a garrison of 15 men. But if you added the commander and his command team, the medic, the cook, the ingenier's andeveryone else, there must have been around 25 left. Casualties not regarded.

Corion saw the first of the gun crew heaving a shell into the mortar. He dropped him with a shot to the back. His men followed his example and 15 guns lit up, a fusilade killing half of the gun crews. Before the enemy had time to react properly, the Bretons were on them slicing and hacking away with bayonets. After the killing was done, he ordered to blow up the mortars. Those things looked too shabby and Corion didn't dare fire a single shot with it.

"Come on!" Corion waved. "Up the cliff!


Lieutenant Lucain was doing al he could. He ordered 5 men to man the gap, 6 men to guard the gate, and that left 4 men to opperate the Gun nests and 4 others to man the walls. It looked bleak, he wished he had more men, how in in the name of the throne was he supposed to hold on against a full platoon of infantry with mortar support. He missed the old days, back when the regiment was founded. A platoon back then was 60 men strong and had mortar support as well. Now, his inherrited platoon consisted of 35 men, if Corion's lot was still alive. He noticed the mortars stopped their shelling. The infantry was ready to assault he supposed. He saw them ruènning towards the gate and the gap, heads low.

"Sir!" his aide, Khrön saluted. "Gun nest 1 reports they are out of ammo for the stubber."

"Emperor's teeth!" Lucain cursed. "Tell them to pick up their lasguns and kill those bastards. Without that stubber the gate will be left uncovered.

His aide ran off again, giving Lucain more room to organize a defense.

"Men of Breton!" Lieutenant Lucain yelled. "Stand firm!"

He shot an assauèlting heretic dead with his pistol to emphasise his order. The remaining stubber was spewing shells at the encroaching heretics, dropping a dozen of them. But the enemy apparantly had a missile launcher with them. The rocket Blew the top of the gun nest to pieces, killing another two men instantly. Lucain cursed again. This was his first platoon command, and this surely was to be his last. He saw trooper Mariën take a hot and drop to the ground. The others were returning fire, killing some more men. But they were close now, any moment they could be in the outpost. Lucain aimed his laspistol again and started blasting. He killed one, then another. Two more followed and then his clip ran out, but he kept pressing the trigger four more times. He holstered his laspistol and picked up a fallen trooper's lasrifle, bayonet attached. The enemy was on them now, and Sergeant Judah punched his bayonet through a heretic's throut, blood gushing out. Lucain charged out at the enemy, running one down and slicing at a man's stomach, spilling it's contents.

Lucain heard a loud explosion and saw the gate was open. They must have used explosions. His aide Khrön was at his side again, blasting at the enemy.

"I think we're done for." the aide said.

"Pray that we are not." Lucain said, shooting a heretic and charcging back in the fray. He would give his life if neccesary.

Lucain ran his bayonet through an gak ugly old man, his scream letting go of his foul breath. He could feel his breath on his face as the man died. As he dropped to the ground, Lucain saw a young man, wearing a leather body armour, his forehead randed with the chaos star aiming his autogun at him. Lucain knew it was too late as he fell down when he saw a flash and felt his chest exploding.

"Charge!" Corion screamed, running up the cliff, blasting away at full auto.

He had clearly took the enemy by surprise. His ection had killed at least 13 men already without any return fire. Stenfield scored another kill as he puched his bayonet through a man's spines. They would have to give everything to save their comrades, death the only release from that duty. They left a trail of enemy dead behind them as they entered the outpot through the gap. He saw the last remaining 12 men at their last stand. There were 25 heretics surounding them before Corion's men charched into them. Sergeant Judah felt relieved as he saw the familièar face of Corion, and ordered a charge of himself. It took about a minute to crush the remaining rabble of heretics.

When the fighting was done, Corion took in the destroyed look of the oupost. He felt ashamed that he didn't arrive earlier. Lucain would surely be furious at him. Corion saw Lucain's aid Khrön kneeling over a dead trooper and he was weeping.

"Where can I find Lieutenant Lucain?" Corion asked.

"Here." The aide answered, weeping.

When Corion looked down he could see the detroyed body of Lucain. His chest ripped open.

Corion felt alone now, there was no one to lead them.

"gak." Corion said. "What do we do now?