Section 2: Forest Games.

Two days had passed since deployment and Leif was beginning to realize that this world was nothing like Vyskaal at all; the sweet scent of the frozen tundra of Vyskaal wasn't there, it had been replaced by the sickening smell of decay and putrefaction, as the men of Ninth platoon advanced they continued to run into small shrines to the plague god where innocent civilians of Tagia Viii had been sacrificed. Their once human forms blighted with rot and plague to appease the god of contagions. Trooper Hylask burned them all with his brutally shaped flamer; it's crackling roar incinerating the foul shrines to Papa Nurgle.
The platoon's lieutenant, a massive flame haired brute by the name of Odinsson Hrothgar, raised his hand signalling the advancing troop column to stop.

"What is it Sir, what do 'ye see?" inquired Sergeant Jaekr, his Laspistol up and searching for targets.

"I dunno lad, see these trees over there? They don't look naturally arranged" muttered Hrothgar, smoke curling out of the end of the cheap Guard cigarette between his cracked lips and nearly hidden by his plated, flame red beard.

Leif looked over at the broken trees the lieutenant was referring too. They were all snapped at differing angles and all showed signs of massive acid corrosion.

"What do you think did this kinsman?" asked Baldr, his head feverishly snapping around examining the leaves around them as if he expected something to jump out at them anytime.
"I dunno" replied Leif "but I think you should calm down, you're freaking me out"

"Righto, calm, I can do that, calm" replied Baldr, his head still snapping feverishly at every shadow and sound.

"Right, Calm" snorted Leif.

"PLATOON! FOR UP INTO SQUADS! BALDR! CUT THE CHATTER! FAN OUT, FIFTY METRE SPREAD!" Barked lieutenant Hrothgar, his antique Chainsword out of its sheath, the swirling Celtic lines painted in dark blue along its Ceramite flank twisting like smoke.

Leif and his brothers stalked forward, all of them incredibly alert, Lasguns raised, primed and pointed in every direction. There was a sudden tearing noise followed by a thump to their west; Jaekr got them to stop and called it in over the vox. After waiting a few minutes and hearing nothing else 3rd squad continued on, if not more nervous than before.


After another age of agonisingly quiet marching 3rd squad passed into a forest clearing, Baldr was the first in and immediately tripped over, smacking his helmed head down into the snowy earth.

"Get up fool!" hissed Sergeant Jaekr, quite pissed off at the young trooper's horrible sense of balance.

Baldr pulled himself up, then looked down at what had tripped him over, and screamed.

It was a head, or what used to be a head. Next to it lay a discarded Marcolan helm, covered in acid marks and paint blisters. The face had also been eaten at by the acid leaving a near perfect acid cauterised cross section of skull, jaw and brain.

"Vrek!" exclaimed trooper Igor, almost dropping his Lasgun in surprise.

As if on cue a massive Voltonskiorsa tree collapsed town towards the squad, Leif jumped aside and rolled on impact, barely avoiding being crushed by the falling hulk of dead wood.

"whats that smell… OH BY THE GOD-EMPEROR AND ALL THE LEGENDARIES! WHAT IS THAT!?" screamed trooper Snorrison his Lasgun primed and pointed. Baldr turned, to late; a massive hulk of twisted heaving Daemon flesh collided with the young Vyskaali and crushed him like an over ripe tomato.
"Plauge Beast!" yelled Sergeant Jaekr unsheathing his heirloom power axe and spitting furious light from his Laspistol.

Leif rose from the frigid earth his Lasgun powered up and pointed. A massive bloated toad-like beast sat before him examining him with its one milky, yellow eye. it opened its mouth as if to scream or unleash some terrible noise that was designed to terrorize the eleven men standing before it. Yet it made no noise. Realization dawned on Leif, it cant make any noise cause its vocal chords or equivalent, had rotted away. the hard snaps of angry Lasrifles tore Leif back to reality. the toad beast simply stared back at the Guardsmen, its single unblinking eye staring, to Leif it looked like it was staring into his soul.

Leif and the other members of 3rd squad bolted for the trees behind them, Lasguns raised above their heads firing blind at the Beast of Nurgle behind them. Leif slid in behind a particularly big Oak like tree and began firing. Purple/White lasbolts smashed into the Beasts side leaving small cauterized holes but no other significant damage.

"9-1 this is 9-3! we have made contact with enemy Maelific elements! request support!" roared Sergeant Jaekr into his officers vox. trooper Hylask was the next one to die; the massive Toad-Daemon leaped forward on its massive legs and crushed the flame trooper under its corrupt bulk. Leif futilely blazed away with his Lasgun, praying for a lucky hit. juts as he ducked back down behind the tree to change clips he thought he heard something.


With a smash and a commotion the massive bulk of one of the Nippon Heavy Armour's Leman Russes smashed out of the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing. it was a beastly Leman Russ Exterminator; its twin Autocannons sticking out of the turrets like lances of pre-firearm times. With a vox boosted scream of BANZAI! and the roar of its meaty HL230 V12 Multi-fuel engine the tank lurched forward its twin guns spitting a hail of fire. the Beast of Nurgle shuddered under the impact of hundreds of 50mm Autocannon rounds. it turned look at the tank just in time for one of the massive bullets to smash into its warp cursed eye.

Eventually the weapons horrific firepower took its toll on the beast. with a shudder and a thunderous blast of flatulence the toad exploded, the flammable gasses contained inside its bloated stomach igniting, spreading its tainted remains over the clearing and its corrosive blood making a sizzling pool of death were it once stood.

With a belch of midnight black smoke from its exhausts, the Leman Russ crossed the remainder of the clearing and drew up alongside were 3rd squad were taking cover. with a squeal of semi oiled metalwork, the top hatch of the Leman Russes turret popped open. a thin officer of the Nippon Regiments rose out of the smoky cabin. his short black hair was cut cleanly around his thin skull and his left eye was replaced with an ugly drab green augmentic, blazing with a fierce red light.

"I am Second lieutenant Isamu Kiyoshi, of his most beneficent Emperors, 253rd Nippon Heavy armour, in command of the mighty main battle tank 'Masaru'. who might you be Guardsman?" asked the tiny man. Leif had never seen a man with that colour skin before, sort of a tanned yellow. and had trouble understanding his accent. the man misplaced all of his L sounds with an R.

Sergeant Jaekr rose from cover and saluted.
"SIR! Sergeant Loki Jaekr, 212th Vyskaali Assault Infantry Regiment, these men around me are third squad, brave kinsmen all and ready to serve the Emperor eternally in Yallhallous." Leif looked the officer down, his uniform was the standard of the Nippon Regiments, a cream greatcoat with an Aquila flying out of a stylised crimson rising sun stitched on the fabric shoulder cuffs. the remainder of the uniform was a drab brown and the officer had a belt with a small laspistol holstered and a sword sheathed at his side, a Kantana they called it, he thought.

The small man looked puzzled and shouted something back down into the tank in his obscure native language to Leif it sounded like jibberish, and certainly nothing like Imperial Low Gothic. the sound of quiet snickering rose out of the Adimantium beast, and the small Nippon officer returned to veiw.

"We are honoured to fight alongside you infantryman, but we humbly request direction, as we have become separated from our tank company, and only managed to come by you men by accident" he asked meekly, sergeant Jaekr burst into roaring laughter.
"so you're telling me, sir, that you dumb bastards lost something the size of a armoured company? Vrek me! you boys must not get taught very well back on Nippon!" remarked the mirthful Sergeant.

With a scornful look of dark fury the Nippon officer slammed the hatch of the rumbling Leman Russ shut and drove off the clanking tracks echoing with the sergeants laughter.

"I don't think you made any friends from Off-world sir." remarked Leif

"Pfft, the moment one of them Nippon Tank boys want to get outside and fight a war Vyskaali style, is the day I'll show them some respect." remarked the Sergeant.