A/N: This is actually my first fan fic ever, so any review would be appreciated, thanks.
Planet Arkan, 2100 hours, 20 km from Objective Omega.
It was calm night, the xenos crickets making their usual noises, Carl sitting near the fire and waiting. For what he did not yet know.
His platoon all behaved like they usually do, merrily, without a care in the Galaxy, enjoying the comradery of service. Their Basilisks all parked in a spaced out manner, like dormant beasts on a field.
But then, it came. The platoon's vox comm rang up.
"Climb Mount Narodnaya, repeat, Climb Mount Narodnaya."
Attack Vector 1, 2100 hours, roughly 1km from Objective Omega.
Viktor was anxious, the last few weeks of battle being exhilarating. He was a fresh recruit after all, raised by the war stories of his father and uncle, he knew what calm nights did to soldiers, and he also knew what lurked beyond his trench.
Making defensive positions facing a forest is never good, that he knew too. The enemy had the natural cover of foliage to improve their stealth, hide their movements and make direct attacks difficult at the minimum.
Every night he would be anxious. Expecting nightly raids, hit and run tactics, or the feared sniper fire. But something told him he would see none of those tonight. And that made him anxious.
But then, it came. The platoon's vox comm rang up.
"Climb Mount Narodnaya, repeat, Climb Mount Narodnaya"
Borei forest, outskirts of Charkal.
Shas'El Vior'la Krin'shash did not feel well tonight, neither in the last month, to be honest. The humans were advancing more and more into the region. Udrei was already under siege, Idral was lost last week and now Charkal was following the same path. If they lost more cities, a retreat further into the continent was inevitable.
He did not know why though, it was common knowledge that the 'Blind Ones' fought more ferociously when on their own planets. He did not understand, why they made such a swift advance in span of time that short.
His fellow Fire Warriors were in high spirits nonetheless, the Ethereals had all but assured they would achieve victory in the end. And that raised the morale to sky levels. The men were eager to fight, they were drafted recently, so it was palpable that their belief in the Common Good was unshakable.
He, as opposed to his men, was a veteran. He knew war and how much of a bad mistress she was.
Some minutes passed, before he heard a faint sound, no one else did in fact. At first he thought they were distant thunder from some storm, he thought it to be strange, the weather report didn't mention precipitation at all.
In a split second it all clicked, his reflexes made him shout at the top of his lungs.
"DIVE EVERYONE!"
His men on snap obeyed, they had been trained well. He did not expect what came next though. There was no whistle from the incoming human rounds. As if a bad prank, he heard small bursts above them and the other platoons in his vicinity, it seemed like the humans had fired balloons of liquid above them, for they were covered in a sticky but moist substance of weird smell. The whole defensive line was sprinkled with the liquid-gel.
While trying to process what just happened, he did not hear the whistles this time. The last things his mind registered while he was sacrificed as a lamb in the pyre were fire, pain on every centimeter of his body, and the deafening screams.
Attack Vector 1, 2130 hours, roughly 1km from Objective Omega.
Viktor was awoken, not by his own will, but by the cheers and laughs of his comrades and huge blast of heat to his face.
Quickly, startled from all the commotion he rose his head to look towards the enemy, surely they must be attacking he thought. As he got up and saw the forest, he did not saw a charging enemy, he smirked, charging Taus, what was he thinking?
But what he saw made him understand the joy his fellow guardsmen expressed. The whole fucking forest was on fire. It was if a thousand daemons from the Warp held an orgy at the place. Flames as high as three store houses licked the dark sky.
His final understanding came that night, why his father and uncle joined the Guard, why they did have to fight the Tau, why he was there and why he saw what he saw. It was because the Emperor willed it. And that, was all that mattered to him from now on.