In a bleak gray dawn, figures could be seen moving through ruined buildings and streets. Like ghosts, they slipped in and out bombed out buildings and bullet ridden facades, though ghosts they were not. Their gray and black urban camouflage mixed well with the landscape. Rain began to trickle down from the sky, and the group came to a halt in a relatively intact building. There, they waited.
Another miserable day, in a miserable war he thought. Outside, the rain fell in sheets, as was common on this world. He stood on the second floor of the building, looking out a window at the street below, searching for any signs of movement. His lasgun stood against the wall, propped on the window sill. He was Cohr, a trooper in the Imperial Guard, from the newly founded regiments of Xaxus, a rim world in the Segmentum Obscurus. Immediately they set out to reclaim worlds in the name of the glorious Emperor. Chaos fleets had invaded the system, and many planets had succumbed, this planet being one of them. He was of the Xaxus 1st, which was now currently stationed on Fordia. They had been on this rock for half a year now, and they were at a standstill with enemy forces in the area. His squad had been selected for recon duty today. They were to search for a weakness in the enemy lines that they could exploit. The months of city fighting were decimating their numbers, along with their fellow Xaxian regiments. It was hopeless really, because there was no real defined line, and what the enemy controlled was heavily defended, both by invading forces, and cults and zealots of the Chaos cause. He took out a ration bar and began to chew on it, and returned to his observations. Down the street he could see a blown out Ecclesiarch temple. The rest of the street was made up of ruined habs and other unidentifiable buildings. There was way too much cover. It would be easy for the enemy to sneak up on them. Just as he thought this, he caught sight of something. He slowly reached for his lasgun, and activated his micro-bead. "Contact." he whispered.
A few other members of the squad came upstairs and took positions up along the windows. The rest were downstairs, covering the ground floor. He had pinned himself up against the wall, keeping hidden. He muttered a prayer under his breath as he prepared himself for the coming battle. Hopefully though, they would pass by, not noticing a thing.
Konrad, the squad sergeant moved over to him, He crouched down next to him and motioned for him to do the same. "Did you get a look at numbers?" he asked.
"I only caught a glimpse of them, but I saw them on our side of the street, moving through the habs." Cohr replied. He stood up and went to the window. He indicated the area where he spotted the hostiles. Looking again, he made out more movement down the street. Konrad relayed the enemy position to the squad, and he settled against the wall. "Firing discipline men, only take a shot if it's clear. Let them get close, then, kill them.
They were close now, only about twenty meters away. It was a large enemy patrol, about platoon size. More movement had been seen on the other side of the street, and now an enemy squad was out in the open, moving down the middle street, weaving between sandbags and wrecked vehicles. From this far away Cohr couldn't get a good look at them, but these weren't the soldiers of the archenemy, they were cultists. For cultists, they were heavily outfitted. The dark forces wasted no time in employing the manufactories on the planet, giving their followers weapons and equipment that was akin to the Imperial Guard. Each trooper worn a long overcoat, and from combat reports they wore a mesh armor of metal plates and flak armor. Each one carried a lasrifle too. One of the enemy troops in the middle squad carried a flamer too. He was the top target. If he got close to the building… Cohr shuddered at the though of burning to death. He sighted down his lasgun at the flamer and got ready to fire.
Next to him, against the wall, was his friend Grigorius. They had both been enlisted together, and they had forged a friendship early on. He was pale skinned, like most Xaxian, and he was lanky. He had dark brown eyes and a young face, hardened by war. "These bastards make me sick, defiling the world like this. I want to personally find their leader and put my gun to his head." Grigorius spat on the ground and he sighted down his rifle, choosing his target. Cohr was still tracking the flame trooper. He had him clear in his sights, it was now or never. He pulled the trigger and a bright red beam issued from his rifle. The snap crack of the lasgun was loud in the enclosed room. Even after months of fighting, this was the first time he had shot at a visible enemy, and he considered it his first kill. The bolt was dead on, and the cultist tumbled to the floor. He switched his aim over to the next and fire again dropping a second one. All around him the wall opened up, and the squad in the road was slaughtered. Grigorius gave a triumphant shout. "I got one, I got one, I actually…" but he was cut off as a bolt scorched by him, forcing him into cover. The enemy had begun to fire back, their bolts burning the wall, and occasionally punching through. Cohr fired a quick burst of lasfire, forcing the advancing squad on their side of the street to dive for cover. "Shit, they're trying to flank us!" someone screamed as a hail of fire from across the street caused him to duck down. A few members of the squad began to pour fire across the street, into a ruined hab. Cohr could make out shapes in a window, but he couldn't get a clear shot. He changed his aim to the squad on their street side. They had much less cover, just a few ruined walls and craters. He heard someone scream, so he chanced a look to see who. One of his squad mates was thrashing on the floor. His chest was a mess of burnt tissue and blood. He fell silent, but Cohr couldn't help but stare. The boom of thunder woke him out of his reverie. It was followed by another and another. Confused, he poked his head out of cover to see that the cultists were lobbing stick bombs at the walls. One of the walls below blew inwards, shaking the whole building. The hail of grenades stopped and suppressive fire lanced out from the ground level, forcing them back into cover. Cohr took pot shots out the window, trying to return fire. He could hear a screaming over the roar of weapons fire. He looked out the window and he saw a cultist running forward, a belt of grenades in each hand. He screamed the name of his dark gods as he ran forward. Frantically, Cohr tried to get a shot. He fired, but the shot went wide, scorching the ground. He readjusted his aim and fired true. The cultist kept running though. He switched to auto and let out a burst of lasfire. With a dying effort the cultist pulled the pins on each of the belts.
Before he could shout a warning, the explosion ripped through the surrounding area, obliterating most of the wall and killing the remaining members of the zealot squad. The explosion knocked him flat on his back, but others weren't so lucky. Two others were caught by the blast, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. He got up and heard a bellow from the outside. The remaining cultists charged forward rushing to the breaches in the building. Cohr scrabbled to his feet. He could see Grigorius lying on the floor, motionless. Cohr ran over and knelt down beside him. Thankfully he was still alive, just stunned from the explosion. Cohr helped him to his feet. "Come on, we gotta get downstairs to help out the squad!" he shouted. Cohr pulled his knife from its sheath and he fixed it to the lugs. "You should do the same." he remarked. Together, they ran downstairs, to a seen of carnage.
The downstairs was a mess. Rubble covered the floor and a massive hole stretched where the wall used to be. The zealots rushed in, laying into the dazed guardsmen. He saw Listec go down, sporting a new mouth along his throat. Konrad was shouting, trying to rally the squad against the attackers. A spray of blood hit Cohr as a soldier near him was slashed by an enemy blade. The cultist turned his attention to Cohr, and he finally got a good look at one. The traitor wore a heavy rebreather mask, the snout and eyes making him look like a monster. He wore a helmet, covered in odd designs and runes that made the eyes hurt to look at. The mesh armor was covered in a similar manner. Running at him screaming blasphemous oaths, the cultist charged. "For the Emperor" screamed Cohr, meeting him head on. Cohr jabbed in with his bayonet and caught the cultist right in a chink of his mesh armor. He put all his might being the thrust and pushed the bastard to the ground. The cultist writhed on the end of his bayonet, screaming. He pulled the trigger, ending the traitor's lamentations. He turned around looking for more things to kill. Grigorius was locked in his own battle, trading blows with a Chaos warrior. Konrad spared with two opponents. One took a swing at Konrad, but he ducked under. He grabbed the man's arm, holding the weapon in place. He stabbed in under the armpit, straight into his heart. With a squeal the cultist fell back dead. Konrad threw his elbow back and smashed the visor of the other one. He pulled out his laspistol and silenced him with a shot to the head. Three more ran into the room, raising their weapons. His gun still on full auto, Cohr ran forward blazing away. Lasbolts ripped across the room and dropped two of the cultists into a heap. The last one reacted in time and managed to get out of the way of the barrage, but Cohr barreled into him anyway. They struggled around on the ground trying to use their weapons. The trooper head butted him and he slumped to the ground, dazed. The Chaos trooper pulled out an autopistol and put it to his head. "Where is your False Emperor now swine?"
Cohr closed his eyes, awaiting oblivion, but it never came. The cultist still stood their, his pistol pointed at Cohr's head, but nothing was happening. That's when he noticed the blade protruding from the man's back. The man toppled over, Grigorius standing behind him. Cohr, beginning to get light headed finally let out his breath. He felt his heart hammering inside his chest, the fear that had gripped him slowly ebbing away. He looked around and took in the scene. Bodies from both sides littered the floor. Blood ran as rainwater fell into the house, washing away the pooling fluid. Only he, Grigorius and Konrad remained out of the ten man squad. Eventually, they moved, the rush of combat and adrenaline ebbing away. "More patrols will be here once this one doesn't check in. It would be best to vacate the area quickly." Konrad said. "Agreed." said both Cohr and Grigorius in unison. Cohr swapped out his power pack and Grigorius did the same. They rested for a few more minutes, and then they set out into the storm.