Corbal sat in the makeshift company command tent, a tent was giving it to much credit, it was a simple dark green tarpaulin draped over a shoddy wood framework. The desk was a simple administratum table dragged in by bored looking guardsmen a few hours earlier. The cogitator was placed unceremoniously on the said desk a few minutes later and it was currently going through the raw combat data.
Corbal looked around his hot, uncomfortable tent command post. He silently wished for his cramped armoury administration office again.
His seat was hard and uncomfortable. His chaffing flak armour wasn't helping his current mindset. The sombre Captain sat with his lasgun on his lap. A bottle of cleaning liquid sat open on the desk in front of him filling the room with a smell that would burn the nose of most people. As Corbal laboured away with the cloth on the various mechanisms within the rifle, the smell ceased to bother him.
The bowl of lukewarm recaf sat unattended, staling in the dry heat. The foul mood of the captain had driven off the lieutenants and the gaggle of support staff, even Colonel Kravitz had given the captain his room at the debriefing. The relocation to Mostatia Plaza itself was enough to damper on anybody's day but the tunnel link up was just plain horrendous, it still wasn't clear what happened in there. Corbal knew that he sent a platoon in and suddenly they were down thirty percent casualties.
Lieutenant Jacob had preformed admirably for his first operation. His quick thinking had saved probably more lives than he thought. Each of the soldiers that returned from that mission after the 507th had taken over the watch of the tunnels described what they fought as monsters and beasts. A fact the regimental chaplain, a simple ministorum stand-in until a proper Imperial Guard priest could be assigned from the Departmento Munitorum, leapt on, decrying that it was a sign of the underhive's unrepentant sins and proof of their hideous barbarism. Full of fire and rhetoric, but little in substance, but after today, a little reassurance of what they did was right was enough for the men.
Corbal took no pleasure in the words of the rambling lunatic. He was down a lot of fresh faced soldiers and a dozen of the returning ones were on the verge of full battlefield psychosis. Those dark tunnels held something that he was not informed of, and now his men were suffering the consequences. The Colonel had left her condolences and returned to the welfare of the newly-battered regiment. Overall the Third Company had suffered almost fifteen percent casualties on its first real operation. Most of it down to the line troopers sheer unwillingness to fire on civilians, at least to begin with. The Third had taken easily the most casualties that day, and the tactical forecasters expected the level of violence against the Imperial Guard presence to increase.
In the end of the day, all the fighting had done was bring the Hammer of the Emperor down harder. The gangers were well armed and prepared for the Guard. Corbal sipped the stone-cold recaf.
The underhive was ready for them.
... ... ... ...
Departmento Munitorum Official Document – Do not alter under pain of punishment
Document Type: After-Action Report [Form 0-245-A34-C]
Date: 34~946.M41
Document Originator: Lieutenant Jacob Ruthann; Tercian 509th
Document Signed By: Captain Jeremy Corbal; Tercian 509th
Subject/Mission: Manoeuvres into Lucius Hive Under-level.
Mission Objectives;
Primary:
1. Secure path to Mostatia Plaza
2. Secure area Mostatia Plaza
3. Link up with elements of the Tercian 507th through Eastern Tunnels
Secondary;
1. Eliminate Gang presence along route towards Mostatia Plaza
2. Remove civilian element from Mostatia area with minimal casualties to Imperial Forces
3. Reclaim Entire Eastern Tunnels
-This description of events as seen and monitored by the officer in question with the benefit of hindsight is truthful as to the extent of the officer in question. -
Convoy deployed from Staging Area 5 at 21:00 Local time. Third Platoon was mounted in Chimera Armoured Personnel Carriers.
Third Company entered into Hive Lucius through mass transport route beta (Waypoint 0) with little infraction from the locals, an Adeptus Arbites Rapid Pursuit squad cleared the gateway and roads just beyond.
Third Platoon was forced to disperse swelling civilian presence at Waypoint 1. I ordered my troopers not to fire on the public despite a precedent order sent from the Planetary Governor to fire at will, First and Second squads successfully removed the majority of civil presence with no notable incident. Third Platoon continued to Waypoint 2.
After arriving at Waypoint 2, I ordered my squads to form a junction cordon (pattern Defence Secundus Cadian-Pattern) to allow First Platoon to move free of interruption.
Shots were fired towards the cordon by previously hidden hostile elements in the nearby hab-blocks. Weapons were identified as Auto weapons, primarily rifles. A number of Las weapons, again primarily rifles, are also fired. First Squad suffered a casualty, Trooper was recovered by my command squad's medic, but unfortunately the trooper died from his wounds. As per their training, the Guardsmen returned fire. Shots from hostile elements diminished for a moment.
Noticeable gathering of civilians begin to move towards the cordon, Sergeant Germaine asks to open fire; I withheld the order for the moment. I repeated the order when our lead Chimera requested to fire.
Individuals within the gathering opened fire on the Platoon. First and Second squads returned fire, Third Squad moved to supporting positions. Fourth Platoon passed through the junction.
The Chimeras of Fourth Platoon fired upon the crowd with their heavy bolters. The gathering is immediately sent into a rage, many charge towards the Imperial lines. I must note that I observed some of the crowd begin to beat each other instead of fighting the Imperial line. I order the Chimeras to draw a 'line in the sand' with their heavy bolters.
The strategy worked, it forced a good majority of the hostile elements back, many not wanting to be hit by the explosive ordnance. First squad pushed forward and started to gain fire superiority over the hostile elements.
I ordered the Chimera to fire directly into the incoming wave after a group bloodlust seemed to overtake them. The group issued a battle cry. Luckily my Vox-Operator captured the noise and extrapolated the cry in file VOX RECORDING 563A45-1.
Several hostile elements were gripped in a 'berserker' like rage and charged recklessly towards the First Squad. Again the training of my Guardsmen shone through and several of the assaulting units were killed before they could engage the squad. Third Squad reallocated their targets to the charging hostiles.
Sergeant Germaine tactically withdrew from the position after directing a trooper equipped with a flamer unit to lay down a wall of fire. This downed another handful of the hostiles. But unfortunately the main bulk of the assaulting force maintained their momentum. I directed my own Chimera to fire on the reminder of the charging force.
The trooper attempted to withdraw. But a thrown weapon, assumed to be an axe hit the trooper. The trooper fell and was overtaken by the hostiles. I ordered a full firing on the squad. Sergeant Germaine brought her squad's chimera into direct fire. The heavy bolters eliminated the hostiles in a few seconds.
Fifth platoon rolled in behind us, they lent their fire to the members of the third platoon. The gatherings on both sides of the junction were driven away through sheer firepower. I mounted my squads with haste to continue the advance.
I noted that Sergeant Mitchell of Second Squad was visible shaken by the events. His squad had been faced with severe fire from the hostile elements.
We moved through the next junction under the protection of Second platoon. Even inside my command chimera I could hear the sheer volume of fire outside the armour plate.
From here on we moved straight to Waypoint 6. We deployed in standard formation under the direct watch of Captain Corbal. He ordered my soldiers towards the eastern entrance to the plaza. Immediately we were assaulted by waves of hostiles.
I directed Fifth and Third Squads to the left of the road and Second and Fourth to the right. First Squad took cover in a nearby groceries emporium and opened fire of the flank of the hostiles.
I took direct command of the Chimeras and directed them to provide fire support for the advancing squads. I ordered the Fifth Squad to move towards First Squad while I directed two of the Chimeras to lay down fire for the advance.
Hostiles overall, form beginning to end were fighting with unnerving professionalism, not to dissimilar to training of a militia unit. They covered each other's advance, sparred with my soldiers for fire superiority etc.
Captain's Note I have recommended to the Tercian Planetary Commissariat that they investigate the status of the Planetary Defence Force drill sergeants and instructors. I don't like the idea that hostiles are being trained in the ways of combat.
After a tense few minutes, the hostiles fell back when faced with a determined advance of Third and Fourth Squads combined with fire support from their respective Chimeras.
At Mission Time 2h:35m. I was summoned to the Company Command Chimera. Captain Corbal had assigned me and my platoon to the daunting task of cleansing the eastern tunnels of hostile presence, presumably from ganger and other degenerates that made their home in the service corridors that were drilled through the rock.
Captain's Note It should be noted that Lucius Hive was originally built into the side of a mountain. Over nine or so millennia, the mountain was mined, refined and eventually eroded away by the constant expansion of the then-fledgling hive.
I will make an additional report for my platoon's excursion into the tunnels.
... ... ... ...
"First Squad, forward, Second take the left and Third take the right." Jacob spoke into the vox-horn inside his command Chimera. The engine thrum pounded in the young man's ears and the lasgun slung over his shoulder rattled against his dull flak armour. The red lighting of the command vehicle highlighted the scuffed edges around his shoulders where he had bundled in and out of the box-like vehicle that day. The hot atmosphere of the rolling vehicle brought warm beads of sweat to his forehead alongside the cold beads brought on by the pressure of command.
The Auspex flickered its display in front of the weary eyes of the lieutenant. The little blue icons of his five squads blinked as they dispersed at his orders; fourth and fifth hung close to the command chimera.
"Tunnel entrance, two hundred sir!" the driver called back through the hold. Jessie Cameron, the 'veteran' sergeant of the command squad, nodded to the driver in absence of any visible reaction from the officer, who was leaning over his auspex and maps. She leaned back in her seat and started checking her lasgun.
The 'veteran' part of her title was completely unearned. She had just been selected for the position because she had outshot Germaine earlier that month. Her job as advisor and aide to the lieutenant was rendered useless when she knew even less them him about combat. All the others - the medic, the special weapon guardsman, the vox operator - all had more to do then her. She counted the number of spare cells in her pouch for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
The powerful armoured personnel carriers roared down the dust, blood and grime covered streets. The few people around flung themselves into doorways and alcoves in hopes of avoiding the gaze of the powerful weaponry that had been barking so often that day. The chimeras split as instructed. The foremost of the convoy, first squad's chimera, mounted the pavement as it filtered through a once-bustling market place. The simple rockrete slabs broke and crumbled under the heavy treads but still the war machine powered on unperturbed.
Sergeant Germaine sat with her squad, her lasgun rocking comfortably in her grip in time to the throes of the engine. Her troopers sat in a tense silence, all of them were young boys or girls, barely out of their teens and thrust deep into a fire of civil conflict. The sergeant was no different but she remembered her instructor's words: she must be an example to her soldiers. And so she was, granite-like in expression and voice. Her own raging emotions made no mark on her face. To shoot a man dead who may have been your neighbour not a year earlier, she shook her head quickly to clear the thought before it could affect her. She was now a Sergeant of the Imperial Guard; her enemies were whoever the Departmento Munitorum said they were, even if they were her kinsmen. She breathed the hot air quickly through her nose. The rumbling of the distant firefight was fading gradually as the six vehicles moved far away from the massacre that was the battle for Mostatia Plaza. The 507th had taken their staging area two hours earlier and now were waiting at their end of the tunnels; the 509th was late.
"First Squad, form a perimeter around the entrance, Fifth and fourth will begin entry." The terse voice of the officer entered her vox bead. She confirmed as she motioned to her soldiers. They responded by checking their weapons again.
The two outrider chimeras swung wide and into the perilous little junction that was the entrance to the multitude of tunnels. It was a simple box junction with three exits leading to the under-city and one that finished in a massive automatic metal door. Just in front of the slightly rusted portal were a pair of checking stations, formerly used for the mining operations that filtered through here millennia ago. But now they had been turned into sleeping huts-come pillboxes for the local gangs.
One such gang was currently residing inside the leftmost stations, firing shots at the poor unfortunates who were attempting to seek shelter in the hab-blocks that were their homes. The twenty or so guffawing psychopaths were so caught up in raking the blocks with fire that they didn't notice as the four metre tall, five and a half metre wide armoured vehicle careened through the wall. The myriad thugs stood in absolute shock as they watched the dull painted vehicle traverse its hull mounted heavy bolter to face them. A short, sharp burst of fire later saw most them disappear into fine red mist. The few still mobile dived for what little cover was available in the stripped-out checking stations. The second burst tore through the toppled tables and stacks of what the crew of the chimera hoped were grox hides.
A third long drawn-out burst of fire raked over the gore-sodden ground one last time, finishing off the last of the gangers. The chimera disengaged from the rockrete structure and moved to deploy its compliment, first squad, around the tunnel entrance.
The vehicle halted with a lurch. The turret swivelled and scanned every possible attack vector. The next two belonged to the outriders which slewed to a halt at the street's edge, cracking the already tortured pavement. Second squad dismounted in good order, their lasguns primed and their sergeant directing several of the squad-members to take the second, undamaged checking station.
The guardsmen spread out; their dull grey armour and black undershirt and leggings contrasted with the powerful overheads that lit the under-level. The sergeant and the vox-operator stayed as an inseparable pair, as the instructors had ordered them to. The Guardsman approached the door with his comrade. They stood on either side of the simple plasteel frame. One motioned to the other; the guardsman nodded and began to count, one, two, and three. He kicked the door in with a firm boot. The two piled in with their rifles levelled at the grim darkness.
Their gun barrels met only a few living individuals. A teenaged woman held three sobbing children close as she watched the Imperial guardsmen with stiff horror, her lips fumbling a quick and rushed prayer. The woman and the childrens' jaws were bloody and red and the teenager had multiple visible wounds scarring her flesh. An old blanket was wrapped around them. Razler, the first Guardsmen, lowered his rifle slightly and tried to smile sweetly as he walked towards the small family.
"It's ok, we're not here to harm you," The private said, trying to sound innocent; he knew the governor's orders, though he did not follow them. The family understandably tried to squeeze further and further into the corner they were in.
The second guardsman, Soran, swept the remainder of the office with a quick eye. The place had seen definite battle. Stuffed behind tables were the distended corpses of fallen gangers and blood splatter blotched the simple flooring. Stubber casings littered the ground around the windows. Soran could see a autogun propped up against a wall and quickly retrieved it. The weapon was a mess; the bolt had been cracked from overzealous pulling, the barrel was jammed with offal and grime, the sights were gnawed at and the stock had been cut away. Soran threw the weapon away, it was useless.
Soran watched as his fellow guardsmen secured the entire area with parade-ground efficiency, the lessons of the tutors still fresh in their minds after several months of sitting in their barracks. He could hear Fourth Squad's chimera rumble up and disgorge its soldiers. The command chimera and Fifth would be here soon and the tunnel assault would begin.
Soran turned back to the now crouching Razler. He was attempting to talk to the young woman.
"Hi." he was trying to turn on the charm, and failing as he had so many times before, "This place is dangerous, you need to leave."
The woman violently shook her head at that. Razler sighed.
"Come on, this place is going to be swarming with Imperial soldiers soon. You have to go."
Again the woman shook her head as if afraid to speak.
"I know this is your... home, but you must leave, I promise you will be looked after,"
The Guardsman watched the young woman's dirtied face as she looked to her children and hugged them closer. She really wasn't going to leave. Razler had to be more direct. He decided a show of intent might help, and reached for a ration bar in his back pocket.
"Here" he vocalised as he passed the simple foodstuff forward. One of the children started to reach out to the bar but his hand was quickly slapped and the child was yanked back by the woman Razler assumed was their mother. He could almost sympathize with their distrust of Imperials; Lord Macekre had not been a fair ruler.
Razler shot a desperate glance to Soran, one way or another they had to remove the small family from this area. Soran moved to flank the cowering family. The woman brought the children in closer. Soran hoisted his lasgun into a passively aggressive stance.
"This area is now under direct control of the Emperor's Imperial Guard, you will be able to return after we have left." Soran growled.
Soran watched the blanket as the family trembled, looking for any hint of a weapon hidden underneath. He started to reach forward to grip the collar of the woman to move her. As he did, Soran noticed something ripple unnaturally underneath the cloth. With a simple gesture to Razler he forewarned the fellow guardsmen.
Soran gripped the blanket and with a hard tug, ripped it from the cowering family. Soran had to push down his gag reflex at what he saw.
The entire back of the woman was a horrid mess of exposed veins and cartilage, and from her shoulder blades coiled two spindly arms that ended in tri-fingered claws. The children, now seen fully, where little better; aside from a single normal arm that one had used to reach for the ration bar, the three each had thin, horrible bodies; a grotesque parody of the human form, like they had been sculpted by a blind man who had only been told metaphors of human proportions. They had bloated legs that ended in talons and two of the three each had extra limbs. One ended in a crab-like claw that looked strong enough to crush metal.
"Mutants!" Razler cried out as he fell backwards in shock, the cry brought two more guardsmen into the room who also recoiled at the sight.
The young woman began to scream loudly in anguish as one of the arms swung out from her back towards Soran. The Guardsman flung himself away as the talon scraped along his thigh guard. His lasgun barked harshly in return, punching into the mutilated flesh of the woman.
Razler loosed a brace of shots also, half-vaporising one of the hybrids and winging another. The other two guardsmen, still stunned by the horrifying sight, stood dumbstruck as the first shots were fired.
Eventually one came to his senses and started to fire, but not before one of the child-hybrids had managed to climb on top of Razler and was now bearing down on him with razor-like teeth. The first shot punched through the chest of the hybrid but to no avail. The teeth found purchase on the collar of the fallen guardsman, who screamed out. The second and third shots punched cleanly through the lower abdomen on the thing, removing it of the use of its legs.
Soran flicked his rifle to fully automatic and clamped his finger down on the trigger. The roar of the lasgun reduced all noise to a single note in the contained space, while the shots ravaged the back of the hybrid. One of its arms were vaporised by the multitude of the lasers. The woman rounded and stood in one swift action, even as the guardsmen's shots dug deeper and deeper into her pallid flesh. She leapt at Soran as his cell ran dry. Her left arm was gone and she had lost most of her chest but she still came running at him.
Soran dropped his lasgun in a panic as he reached for the combat knife strapped to his boot. The weight of the hybrid crashed into him, throwing him to the ground even as the woman leapt on top of him, her hideous claw swiping down and barely missing his head thanks to a knee-jerk reaction that made him duck away from the claw
Soran dug the knife into the waist of the mutant and it squealed. In return the Guardsmen got a very human-like fist to the jaw. The taste of blood whetted his tongue and sharpened his mind. The second stab was to the right bicep of his attacker. The hybrid cried out as the serrated edge cut cleanly through the muscle and bone with ease. The 'human' arm went limp and lifeless as its life juices leaked out. They weren't red, like the haemoglobin-filled plasma of normal humans. Instead the mutant had a black ichor, which stained whatever it touched.
The claw danced down once again and Soran felt the distinct stinging pain as the claw entered his shoulder. In his agony the knife fell from his grip and he howled.
The mutant snarled, baring her needle-like teeth as she lowered her head to his, preparing to take a bite. Soran screwed his eyes shut and hissed a prayer as the hot breath kissed his skin. Only a solid crack brought him back. Willits, one of the two guardsmen stood over him now, with his lasgun in his hands. The steel stock was bloodied and he was wearing a stupid, if slightly worried, grin.
Soran took a quick glance to see the mutant laid out on the floor with a bloody welt decorating the side of her head. Willits stopped grinning long enough to place a deft lasgun shot into the stirring hybrid.
Of the smaller monsters, one of them was very dead; it had collapsed from its wounds and bled out. The second was currently pinned under the boot of the other guardsmen who was lining up a kill shot. The monster bore the tell-tale signs of battle. Half of its skull was ripped away and one arm ended in a cauterised stump. The guardsman's armour was scraped and scarred by his battle with the thing. The last monster, the one on top of Razler, was flailing as the guardsman battled it using his knife and balled fists.
Willits crossed the station in a leap to aid his comrade. He pulled the monstrous hybrid away from the wounded Razler. The Guardsman gripped his lasgun and motioned to Willits.
"Over there?" Willits asked.
"Yeah!" Razler spluttered. Without a further word the thing was flung far away from the two guardsmen and was quickly annihilated by a burst of las fire.
Eventually the office died down, and a moment later more guardsmen piled in with the Sergeant.
"Medic!" He cried as he saw the state of Razler and Soran, "Medic!" He shouted again.
Jacob stood back as the flamer made its presence known. The long gouts of burning promethium torched the structure from front to back. He sighed; already he was down two effectives. They would live, but for the moment they were useless to him as a commander. The medic patched them up the best he could and settled them in the command chimera while the platoon prepared for entry.
"Mutants..." he said to no-one in particular, contemplating their apparent speed and strength, "Frakking mutants."
He shook his head again; he had already voxed in the report to the Captain who had responded that they should proceed as planned. It was known that there was a mutant presence in the underhive, that had been spreading rapidly out of control in the last few years. It was in fact part of the reason why they had moved in the first place. But to see creatures like this to that to his troopers.
"Emperor damn frakking mutants." He said again.