Sergeant Krummer knew his prayers and usually prayed before going to bed once in a while and a few times before battle. He liked his job, he was good at fighting. He had never actually liked studying or working even when he was actually a pretty smart guy. He had been raised in between the rivalry the Guard and the Navy held since millenniums ago, his mother had wanted him to be a mechanic and his father had preferred to stay away from him. That had been 20 years ago and he was a Sergeant now while his father was pretty much dead.
He was one of the Regiment-born, his father had been a low officer and fathered him with a Navy crew-woman. Under normal circumstances he would have grown as a sailor, but thanks the Emperor the ship had been stuck in the Warp for years. Enough time for him to look old enough to get into the Regiment. The Merweg First Infantry Regiment, his father's planet used to produce Armoured Regiments until one day they run out of tanks and had to create infantry regiments to pay their Administratum taxes.
Krummer was probably the least lucky officer in the entire regiment. He had been given the command of a squad, probably the worst ten men in the entire Regiment, four newbies who could barely walk under the weight of their military issue backpacks, One-eye Karl a veteran with the worst aim in the entire frakking Galaxy and five others who could barely keep up with their own dead mothers at running. His squad was canon fodder, even by Imperial Guard standards.
Warp damn it. His hands were freezing despite two sets of winter gloves and being stuck inside his pockets. His hands were so clumsy inside his gloves he was sure he wouldn't be able to pull the trigger of his his lasrifle. Those damned ice-cultists were frakking fast and if you didn't put a dozen las-shots through them really quickly they were on you. And when they were on you, there was nothing you could to stop their crystal swords. Some time later you joined their blue eyed wights.
There were five squads in the place and two of the savages called Thenns who served as guides, the company was led by Captain Brummer but the old veteran from the Ork wars of Chaitzen had turn craven during the last few years and Commissar Kaufermann was in fact the one doing all the commanding. Priest Missionary Kirsches and Lieutenant Herrmann were also evidently enjoying their authority while the old Captain pretended to use the radio back in the transports for hours.
Two companies had already been send up here, Interrogator Methius was reluctant to send them further than the Thenn lands, to the so called Lands of Always Winter. Fortress of the Others and coldest place in this Warp-damned backwater planet. The 1rst Merweg Infantry had never fought against Chaos cultists, but he knew enough to know that this was something new. Sickness, Pleasure, Blood and Conspiracy, those where the Four Great Sins of Chaos, he attended mass from time to time so he knew that. Cold was not supposed to be the enemy, cold was just supposed to be cold.
Krummer's thinking was interrupted by the return of Sergeant Achen and his ten men squad... now reduced to two men and half (being dragged). They were finally here. It took him mere seconds to get his lasrifle in front of him, apparently the cold wasn't slowing him as much as he had feared, but his men were noticeably slower and clumsier. If the Others don't frakking kill them I'm going to do it myself when this is over, this is supposed to be an ambush. Achen was just ten metres away from the Valkyrie when the Others appeared. A giant spider half the size of a mammoth jumped faster than he could track and landed behind Achen and his men, before he could even blink, one spider limb impaled him.
Then all Warp went loose. Priest Missionary Kirsches got out the Valkyrie with his Eviscerator chain-sword and hand held flame-thrower singing the Emperor's Battle Hymns with his pitched voice. Behind him half a dozen Guards shot the Other riding the ice spider who jumped down fast as Warp avoiding every bullet. Then the Valkyries started shooting with their mounted multilasers, but not towards the clearing but somewhere he couldn't see, that couldn't be good, the Valkyries's guns were an important part of the ambush.
The two squads hiding in the close trees charged running against the two new spider-riding Others that followed the first offender into the clearing. Krummer's and Samuel's squads were tasked with closing the way back to the Others so he ran to stand the way those monster had come. Erikstein and his squad stood up from their hiding place and started shooting. Erikstein always got the grunts who could shoot decently. The three monsters had dismounted real fast and while the spiders received all the fire the Others got near enough to face Samuel's squad, what followed was butchery.
Their armour was pretty effective against lasfire, and their sword strokes were faster than what most guardsmen could block, Krummer stopped firing for a second when the white blurs mixed with Samuel's squad but decided there was no way they were getting out alive anyways and resumed firing after indicating his men to do the same. If Samuel was going to die fighting, it was no good to waste his distraction not taking down the coldies.
Old Karl throw a frag grenade right into the fight, and had the good sense to warn them about it, even the newbies went down to take cover, if you call burying yourself a little in the snow "take cover". Krummer rose again holding tight his lasrifle and scanning for enemies near when he saw a giant spider get out of the main quarrel and charge against him, apparently most spiders had been taken down but the decreasing amount of lasrifle was disturbing.
A spider limb almost tore right through his leg if it were not for Commissar Kaufermann bolt pistol. He had tried to sidestep but the arachnid was too fast. A smoking shortened spider limb stood next to him but the danger was not over, Krummer took a leap left. One of his men was impaled through his neck. Half his men started to run towards the Erikstein's bunch, precisely then, Krummer's lasrifle clip went out.
The spider distracted by the running cravens took a leap and left him there, next to two corpses and with an empty lasrifle.
He tried to get another clip from his belt but one of the Others was running swiftly towards him with a professional looking crystal sword, his left hand was too clumsy to reach an spare clip. Krummer right hand reached his pistol with a practised movement while his left caught the lasrifle before it touched the floor. He shot the running cold twice with no effect. Now he was close enough to be killed. The first stroke came from above and was blocked by his old and trusty lasrifle. He tried to shot again but the second stroke came diagonal towards his feet and when he blocked it again his rifle cracked and broke. He tried to close his eyes but they were stuck, probably the cold, maybe the blue eyes looking at him.
Some time later Sergeant Krummer felt strong enough to stand up again. He felt cold, not the chilling cold of the North, or the soul-chilling cold of the Others. He felt a comfortable cold. He tried to remember what he was supposed to do. If a guardsman is to survive a failed the mission, during which he is separated from his commanding officer, his orders are to go back to the Headquarters. He couldn't find his lasrifle, he couldn't see very well, everything was tinted blue. So he took his pistol and started walking south. He knew he had to go back to the Headquarters. He felt like seeing his Captain one last time.
Just a few steps behind him, one of his men tried to get up but the evident lack of both legs didn't let him do it. So he just growled and started crawling, following his Sergeant as fast as he could. Then a few more got up around the clearing and followed him. Dragging their feet and sometimes other parts of their bodies not entirely attached to their freezing bodies. They had to go back. The faster they got to the warm blooded bastards, all the better.