He had been wandering, for how long? Days? Weeks? No… only hours, he could still see the spires of the Chancellery over the horizon. Col's mind raced to catch up with everything that had transpired. The bigger question his mind posed was "Now what?" He had no survival equipment, no gun, no knife, all he had were his wits. Dusk was quickly approaching and he was less than 5 miles outside of the city walls, so he collected some wood and started a fire near an old, tall tree that had what seemed to be a perfect hole in the side of it for a shelter. Night fell and by then a nice fire had been going, Col stirred the fire with a look of lifelessness in his face, not a face of a man of war, but a face of a man without hope, a man that had nothing to live for. Col soon went to sleep, and thoughts came, thoughts of events past, things he had not seen since he was but a child. He dreamed….
Col was but 12 at this time, learning at the Deralian Military Academy.
"Order Up, Rank and file you scum-sucking maggots!" yelled the Sergeant. "Recruit Trainee Bravinius, what in the name of Solar Fethin' Macharius do you call that rifle?" "Sir, I call it clean, Sir!" replied Col with zeal. The sergeant smiled "Damn right it is, you sons of Orks, listen up, you better learn how to clean your rifles. If your rifle aren't as good as this by tomorrow you WILL be cleanin' the privies." ordered the sergeant in a most commanding tone. This image started to fade in and out until the fog of sleep consumed him and a new image began to appear. Col was 20 and he was in a bar in Jeru with his friend Arno. Arno turned to Col and said "So man, we are shippin' out tomorrow" "Can't believe it me self, my first battlefield command" replied Col "You mean OUR first command" interjected Arno with a bit of glee Col laughed heartily "Yeah, your right, hey man, its our last night on Deralia before we go to fight the Tau, c'mon, lets have a toast!" "We are gonna fight!" yelled Arno "And we're gonna WIN!" chorused the guardsmen in the bar.
This image too began to fade and was replaced with an image that Col hated. Col was on a battlefield, one that was familiar, too familiar, he could still smell the fresh damp, grass of his homeworld. His staff were hiding behind an abandoned stone house that acted as command post. Col was 35 now, and a captain, he stood non-chalantly amidst the fire of the Vanquisher cannon pouring shot after shot into a Tau hammerhead. "Sir, Lieutenant Froan is reporting 75 casualties and we still have no word as too.." he was cut off by incoming smart missles that hit right next to Col incinerating the runner instantly. Col was shaken slightly and yelled into his Arno's master vox "Get Sec Platoon into position, get covering fire on those broadsides!" But it was too late, another round smart missiles was incoming, Col turned to look but could not react in time. A cacophony of explosions hit the surrounding area and the smoke cleared. "Is anyone injured?" Col shouted. For a minute he thought he was deaf until he turned and saw his entire staff dead on the ground except for Arno, who was barely alive. Col rushed to Arno "Arno, you.. you.. Are you ok?" said Col with utmost concern. "I'm… I don't know." Col looked down and saw the bloody stump where Arno's lower body was. "Arno, Arno, please, in the name of the Emperor, please, don't die, please" Col started crying "You can't, I won't allow it!" It was too late, Arno lie dead. Col unsheathed his sword and charged down the field, his infantry in his pursuit. It was a turkey shoot, the infantry were shot running down the field except for 20 led by Col. He immediately jumped and thrust his powersword deep into a Firewarrior's chest, the blood spattering on his field dress. He enjoyed the kill, for every Tau that died, he would feel more avenged. A single battle suit came jumped 10 meters in front of him. He wanted him. Col emptied his clip into 7 Firewarriors knocking them off their feet, dead before they hit the ground. Col shoved his power sword into the right leg of the battle suit. It swung its arm and nearly clipped his head off if he hadn't moved. Col took out his sword and began to cut open the battle suit to reveal the startled Shas'O inside, Col then promptly impaled the Shas'O who had a look of genuine surprise as he died. He jumped of the battle suit and skewered 2 more Tau as he landed. Col was very pleased with himself until he felt a hot blast to back and the last thing he remembered was hitting the ground.
Col was but 12 at this time, learning at the Deralian Military Academy.
"Order Up, Rank and file you scum-sucking maggots!" yelled the Sergeant. "Recruit Trainee Bravinius, what in the name of Solar Fethin' Macharius do you call that rifle?" "Sir, I call it clean, Sir!" replied Col with zeal. The sergeant smiled "Damn right it is, you sons of Orks, listen up, you better learn how to clean your rifles. If your rifle aren't as good as this by tomorrow you WILL be cleanin' the privies." ordered the sergeant in a most commanding tone. This image started to fade in and out until the fog of sleep consumed him and a new image began to appear. Col was 20 and he was in a bar in Jeru with his friend Arno. Arno turned to Col and said "So man, we are shippin' out tomorrow" "Can't believe it me self, my first battlefield command" replied Col "You mean OUR first command" interjected Arno with a bit of glee Col laughed heartily "Yeah, your right, hey man, its our last night on Deralia before we go to fight the Tau, c'mon, lets have a toast!" "We are gonna fight!" yelled Arno "And we're gonna WIN!" chorused the guardsmen in the bar.
This image too began to fade and was replaced with an image that Col hated. Col was on a battlefield, one that was familiar, too familiar, he could still smell the fresh damp, grass of his homeworld. His staff were hiding behind an abandoned stone house that acted as command post. Col was 35 now, and a captain, he stood non-chalantly amidst the fire of the Vanquisher cannon pouring shot after shot into a Tau hammerhead. "Sir, Lieutenant Froan is reporting 75 casualties and we still have no word as too.." he was cut off by incoming smart missles that hit right next to Col incinerating the runner instantly. Col was shaken slightly and yelled into his Arno's master vox "Get Sec Platoon into position, get covering fire on those broadsides!" But it was too late, another round smart missiles was incoming, Col turned to look but could not react in time. A cacophony of explosions hit the surrounding area and the smoke cleared. "Is anyone injured?" Col shouted. For a minute he thought he was deaf until he turned and saw his entire staff dead on the ground except for Arno, who was barely alive. Col rushed to Arno "Arno, you.. you.. Are you ok?" said Col with utmost concern. "I'm… I don't know." Col looked down and saw the bloody stump where Arno's lower body was. "Arno, Arno, please, in the name of the Emperor, please, don't die, please" Col started crying "You can't, I won't allow it!" It was too late, Arno lie dead. Col unsheathed his sword and charged down the field, his infantry in his pursuit. It was a turkey shoot, the infantry were shot running down the field except for 20 led by Col. He immediately jumped and thrust his powersword deep into a Firewarrior's chest, the blood spattering on his field dress. He enjoyed the kill, for every Tau that died, he would feel more avenged. A single battle suit came jumped 10 meters in front of him. He wanted him. Col emptied his clip into 7 Firewarriors knocking them off their feet, dead before they hit the ground. Col shoved his power sword into the right leg of the battle suit. It swung its arm and nearly clipped his head off if he hadn't moved. Col took out his sword and began to cut open the battle suit to reveal the startled Shas'O inside, Col then promptly impaled the Shas'O who had a look of genuine surprise as he died. He jumped of the battle suit and skewered 2 more Tau as he landed. Col was very pleased with himself until he felt a hot blast to back and the last thing he remembered was hitting the ground.