Swamp rats
In the year 763 M.41, with the final purging of the largest remnants of Hive Fleet Behemoth from Ultima Segmentum's trade routes, key worlds and their outlying systems, Segmentum Command moves to counter the so called "Second Sphere Expansion" into Imperial territory by the Tau Empire and several rogue planetary governors.
With their forces exhausted by the bitter struggle with the Tyranid hordes, Segmentum Command opts to call for reinforcements.
Amongst the armies sent to aid the repulsion of the xeno threat is the 146th Tetriarch Guard Regiment of Vostroya. Born from the strife of the Occlusiad Wars, the Regiment has stood in service of the God Emperor for more than four thousand years.
It is the Regiment's first deployment to Ultima Segmentum and her soldiers strike hard upon the agri world of Kernera II, dealing death to xeno and traitor alike in the name of the God-Emperor...
After little over a month the Tau are finally being routed from one of their last bastions; the hills and swamplands of Kernera II's Northern hemisphere.
However, the battle is far from over...
Sergyent Alexei Karelov stared blankly at the orders again as the 8-wheeled Munitorum carrier bumped and jostled over the pitted and cratered road. He couldn't actually see what was written on the flimsy paper slip, it was too dark for that, but he could remember exactly what it said.
"9th Company to withdraw from present position by 01:00 hours and return to point 284 for resupply and transit to insertion point behind hill 113. Orders are to infiltrate Xeno battlelines and eliminate them from the area by 08:30 hours."
As ever the orders had come straight from Major Prudmina, Polkovnik Tymeschenko's adjutant. They were such simple orders; to the point, yet also so marvellously vague.
Typical of that pompous ass, Alexei thought to himself. He'd heard that the 10th and 11th Companies had been having a hard time on this flank of the regiment's advance, but things must have gotten pretty bad if Alexei's company was getting pulled off the line for an infiltration mission.
All things said and done, much had not gone according to plan on this planet; the Tau were powerful foes in terms of technology and were quick to react to strategic developments, but they lacked experience and certainly had little ability when it came to close combat. Even a first level novice of ossbohk-vyar could best one of them in hand to hand combat, little wonder that they relied so heavily on the strange Kroot creatures for that.
It seemed that no matter where one found Tau, one found the strange creatures in spades. Khekking things even ate the dead if they had enough time.
His greatest surprise however, was the fact that they had human soldiers. He spat on the truck bed floor with a sour grimace as he thought on that. They may not have turned to the vile stain of Chaos, but they were traitors none the less.
Taking orders from xenos... such a disgrace could not be countenanced, the Emperor would not forgive them and neither would Alexei.
The huge hand of Demitri Korchagin settled on Alexei's right shoulder.
"You are alright, Papa Alexei?"
Alexei grunted, trying to hide his smile. Demitri was always looking out for him, by rights it should be the other way around.
"Da, eto horoshyo, moi druk. Just trying to figure out what sort of suicide mission Prudmina has given us this time." Alexei looked to the great bear of a man who had been by his side ever since he was conscripted. In all that they had been through, they had been through it together, somehow fated to survive when many around them didn't.
So very many.
"Then we shall just have to disappoint him once more, shall we not, Alexei?" Demitri replied, grinning broadly as he did so.
Alexei chuckled at their little running joke, digging out his hipflask and handing it to Demitri, who took a grateful swig before handing it back. As ever, the big man was utterly unaffected by the rahzvod, the same stuff Vostroyan tank crews used to clean their tanks of rust and the worst of filth.
Alexei took a swig himself, the rahzvod adding colour to his cheeks as it burnt its way down his throat. Nothing killed fatalism, boredom or brain cells like a little rahzvod, especially if it came from the distilleries of Sohlsvodd. It would get you "drunk or blind guaranteed."
He smiled to himself as he amended that to "drunk and blind."
"What's got you two going so early in the day?" Ludmilla Voroshilov asked, stifling a yawn as she emerged from her camo-cloak cocoon by the driver's cab, her sniper rifle cradled in her arm as though it were her child.
"Thought you were asleep, my little butterfly," Alexei replied as Ludmilla pulled back the hood, revealing her short brown hair, green grey eyes and rounded face.
"Hard to sleep when you two are guffawing like rad brained idiots, never mind the way the Chevek is driving this thing." Ludmilla said, the carrier bumping over a set of particularly stomach dropping holes as though to reinforce her statement.
"We were just toasting the imminent disappointment of our favourite Major." Demitri countered, the broad grin still on his face.
"Oh? A good cause to drink to then," Ludmilla said with a warm smile as she accepted the hip flask and took a nip herself. "Spaseba, Alexei."
"Palszowousta, Ludmilla."
The transport rocked again, the sound of gears grinding as the driver went through every gear except the right one to keep the vehicle going.
"Vob tvoyu Maht, this could make a fellow seasick."
After a bumpy and uncomfortable half an hour of cross country travel they reached the designated rendesvous point with their transport for the insertion; a small headland jutting into a large mist covered lake surrounded by boggy swamplands. Alexei squinted and could just make out Hill 113 on the other side of the lake. He also couldn't help but notice that their transport was conspicuously absent.
"Khekking wonderful, I didn't have my pelvis turned to jelly over the last half hour for nothing." Alexei looked back to the second carrier which had the other half of the company in it and bellowed for his vox operator, Efreitor Mischa Tretyak. Alexei slung his pack over his shoulder and strode to the rear of the carrier as the vox operator jumped from his own transport and came running.
"Where in the Emperor's name is our transport? They're supposed to be here," Alexei muttered to himself as he jumped from the carrier, taking care not to land on his right leg first. It was still giving him gyp even after all these years. "Mischa, get on to command and enquire as to where our transport is, unless Prudmina wants us to swim through that," Alexei said, gesturing with a wave of his arm to the great expanse of bog they were parked by.
While Mischa voxed command, Alexei called for the company to disembark, the squad leaders forming on him without him even needing to ask.
"So what's going on, Papa Alexei, what's the plan?" asked Graf Alyoshin, the 9th's only other Sergyent.
"The usual, moi druk, we're playing it by ear for now. Our transport hasn't shown up yet."
"Just another day in the Guard, eh?" quipped Efreitor Volodya Gramoteev, the 9th's only surviving medicae specialist and current leader of the remains of second platoon.
"Da, Mischa's voxing command now, hopefully they can shed some light on this."
After a few moments of impatient waiting Mischa made his report.
"Command says our transport is currently on route, two Chimeras from the 16th Gurends, whoever they are. ETA ten minutes... probably."
Alexei gave a tired nod as Graf chuckled. That was probably as good as they were going to get at such short notice.
"Two Chimeras, huh? Horoshyo, alright, if that's all we're getting we'll make do."
"Like we always do, eh, Alexei?" Graf asked, still chuckling.
"Da, moi druk, as we always do. So, I'll take Volodya and his children, my squad, Ludmilla and Anton, Maxim and Georgi and his stubber team with me as first wave. We'll secure the landing zone, get eyes on target and send the Chimeras back for Graf and his children. Sound good?" There were no dissenting voices.
"Horoshyo, okay then, let's unpack our gear and get ready, you know the drill. Mischa, make sure 10th and 11th Companies know we're moving up their flank, and see if you can get the mortar company to lend us support."
"Puyotnam, Sergyent," the sandy haired vox operator replied.
Alexei watched the 9th offloading supplies and checking their equipment.
Ha! Company they call us, he though to himself, its barely a platoon now. Forty soldiers in all, forty men and two Chimera IFVs to take a ridge known to have armour somewhere on it. He could be facing a whole regiment of Tau for all he knew. Well, he'd faced worse odds. At least the Tau didn't butcher you like the Orks on Ganf Magna.
Alexei winced as Viki and Troska almost dropped the crate of incendiary grenades they were carrying off the transport.
"Children, those grenades are for those xenos across the way, I went through a great deal of trouble with the quartermaster to get them and I don't intend to see them go off until I've stuffed them down their blue throats." He gave the two newcomers a withering stare as they sheepishly continued their task. "If you drop them again I'll dock your pay and shave your moustaches off!"
He was starting to wonder if maybe he should have picked another pair as his tank killer team.
Well, it was too late now; they were already at the rendezvous point and they'd have to learn somehow, they were Firstborns after all. They were also the only tank killers he had with the training and the kit to do the job.
Better a pair of Shinys with an RPG than trying to do the job up close and personal with a satchel charge.
"Mischa, where by Saint Nadalya's tits are those Chimeras?"
Mischa looked up from his set after querying someone on the other end of the line.
"They say they'll be here in ten minutes, Sergyent."
Alexei was not impressed.
"That's what those Chevek fools said half an hour ago. We're losing the night here. Any longer than five and we're going without them, tell them that."
"Puyotnam Sergyent" Mischa replied as he relayed the message with a smile.
"Pffft... Cheveks..." Alexei muttered to himself as he took another hearty swig from his hipflask.
He spent the next couple of minutes checking on the Shinys that seemed to make up half his "infiltration team". Aside from some nerves they seemed to be holding their own. Though they had been under fire more than once during this campaign this was a first for them. This was their first time as part of an infiltration team, and also a first time for Viki and Troska to put their training to its intended purpose; the business of tank killing.
Alexei couldn't wait to see the look on the Tau's faces when they saw their precious tanks go up in smoke.
Not that they'd be able to watch for very long, as Alexei would be showering them with incendiary grenades. Then they would meet dear Anastasia, his heavily modified shotgun and Piotr, his axe.
But that was for later, for now he still had to wait on those damn Chimeras.
As he re-cleaned and prepared Anastasia he heard the far off sound of tracked vehicles. He looked to Mischa and saw the affirming grin on the vox operator's face. Alexei turned to his children, a smile creeping across his face.
"Smirna!" he bellowed, watching as the 9th formed neat ranks by their equipment "Children, take your last breath of fresh air while you can. You'll wish you had more when you're stuck in these tubs they're sending us, and you'll sell yourselves for half a lungful once we're in the swamps."
He smiled as he saw the look upon the faces of the Shinys.
Tonight may yet prove a good night, he thought to himself.