Characters
Helikian Guardsmen
Colonel Moonsun, Robert (36) - Regiment Commander of The 5th Tarthian Regiment "Pathfinders"
1st Lieutenant Fell, Yzir (42) - Company Commander of Ferrus Company, 1st Battalion 3rd Tarthian Regiment "Volunteers"
Platoon Sergeant Zhell, Darius (37)- Platoon Sergeant of Astra Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Tarthian Regiment "Pathfinders"
Supply Sergeant Sage, Dak (32)- Supply Sergeant of Headquarters Element of The 5th Tarthian Regiment "Pathfinders"
Corporal Aster, Jag (26)- Guidon bearer of 1st Battalion, 3rd Tarthian Regiment "Volunteers"
Trooper Münsz, Weber (25) - Trooper serving in the 5th Tarthian Regiment "Pathfinders
Imperial Navy
Admiral Alexander "Ship Master"- Admiral of all ships under the Tarth banner
Captain David- Wing Commander of the Iron Drake Chapter
Tarthian Guardsmen
General Sosa, Sakaar (67)- Commanding General of the Tarth Imperial Guard Regiments
Colonel Hilko, Dak (38)- Regiment Commander of the 3rd Tarthian Regiment "Volunteers"
Junior Commissar Yarrick (19)- Commissar assigned to 3rd Tarthian Regiment
Iron Drakes
The Chapter Master (?) - Unnamed Chapter Master of the Iron Drakes frequently referred to as "The Drake" or "The Great Drake"
Aragorn (?)- A young Iron Drake in charge of 4th regiment during the Battle for Betram
Order of Battle for Betram
Operation Brass Shield-
Mission goal to contain the Ork threat
Helikian 1st Line Infantry Regiment "Fighting First"
Helikian 2nd Line Infantry Regiment "Phantoms"
Mixed 3rd Line Infantry Regiment "Volunteers"
Mixed 4th Line Infantry Regiment "Hunters"
Tarthian 9th Armored Regiment "Wyverns"
Tarthian 12th Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Rough Riders"
Operation Surging Typhoon
Mission goal to train, support and assist the PDF garrison
Rivian 11th Artillery Regiment "Rolling Thunder"
Tarthian 15th Artillery Regiment "Steel Rain"
Task Force Bloodied Hand-
Mission goal to be QRF for all land forces on the main continent
Helikian 5th Light Infantry Regiment "Pathfinders"
Helikian 7th Line Infantry Regiment "Xule Bane"
A week had passed since the first guardsmen had touched the ground. Since then, phase two of the shaping operations had met with great success. Operation Brass shield had guardsmen seal off the major arteries of traffic firmly under Imperial control. The green skins would not threaten the core of the world as the lesser experienced PDF regiments pushed relentlessly against the green tide forcing them back into bottlenecks or other containable areas with the help of Operation Surging Typhoon who finally gave the PDF the desperately needed heavy firepower required to push the green skins out of their entrenched positions.
The 5th Regiment, of course, had its own mission alongside the 7th Regiment. Operation Bloodied Hand was originally named for General Sosa spilling a bottle of ink on his hand. The operation quickly became just that. Endless missions for undermanned, poorly led and poorly equipped PDF troopers. The regiments found themselves almost always taking command of the local troopers and forced to coordinate a desperate defense or offense to hold their objectives. The Regiments had felt the toll of war as the hangers of their respective ships were no longer simply for ships. Tucked in corners of the hanger were racks, portable kitchen, and an improv armory. When one platoon returned, the bay of the Valkyrie was washed out and a new platoon was loaded as the pilots pushed through 12-hour rotations with a 4-hour maintenance respite. Guardsmen would sleep on the ride to and from Belbora. The time on deck was to rearm, eat and drink. Those who found scant minutes would lay down on a rack like a sardine sharing the bed with a handful of other men laying on the long side to fit a cluster of troopers.
Officers no longer inspected gear instead of entrusting NCOs or their own men to make sure they carried a combat load and made themselves battle-ready. The officers upon landing would grab a plate of food before shoveling it down their throat for the next briefing as they drew up plans for the next engagement and briefing their men immediately before going back to the planetside. The results were mild at worst with a few officers having difficulty keeping up. The fear was the officers would eventually crack from the stress-causing many NCOs to step up above and beyond to buy those officers desperately needed rest.
The Helikians were operating at their peak as far as General Sosa was aware of. They were able to pull off this task with only a 12% casualty rate and with only 26% of that being serious injuries. The secret to their success was the support the men received. General Sosa had plused the two regiments on equipment. Helikian pattern lasguns, heavy bolters and a majority of the air wings as support, The sheer volume of fire as they attacked their objectives always resulted in a quick dirty fight that always ended with the Helikians on top.
It wasn't until recently a problem arose. Belbora was in a shadowy civil war with the PDF openly declaring allegiances, but they didn't directly engage guardsmen in a meaningful way. That didn't mean the guard just allowed a power struggle to occur. The 7th Regiment's mission was switched to help support the local PDF kill squads counter the rebelling PDF locals. They were doing an excellent job kicking down doors and scaring the locals. That little fact, unfortunately, did little to change the stressful conditions the 5th regiment was under. Especially after it was learned the revolt was more hot air than true action with only one real rebel and most other words of rebellions being nothing more than trying to get a particularly annoying person out of their position of power.
Fortunately, the men were only doing 2 missions for the last day or so as Operation Brass Shield accomplished their mission. The men were past the point of exhaustion with some going as far as to simply bed down feet away from the Valkyries being refitted. The thought of going back to their billet being much too strenuous to even consider. While little odds and ends of companies were out on a mission. A vast majority were back on the ship enjoying a short earned rest due to the machinations of 9th Armored finally putting down a particularly troublesome area after three PDF regiments rotated them out of their blocking operation.
The ship came alive for the first time since operations began. The men had something that resembled free time. Many of the guardsmen simply smoked, gambled or slept. A few had the bright idea to play a game of scrum ball in the hanger. A few of the onlookers laughed as a particularly rough tackle occurred or at the terrible athletic ability, a certain guardsman would have. The mood lightened, even more, when a dozen out of shape arms men challenged the guardsmen for the honor of Lady Amber getting more than a few laughs out of everyone and soon the game was joined. The tackles and elbows flying and raising more than a few eyebrows at 'accidents' but all the players seemed to enjoy playing the game and the moment of normalcy it brought.
That was until a trooper took a particularly hard tackle hitting the side of a Valkyrie causing a mob of Valkyrie crew members to emerge and challenge the Arms men and guardsmen to a game of Scrum Ball to see who would pay for the repairs. The pickup game evolved as all things do with a board emerging to place bets and see who was to go against who with many improv teams forming.
The officers seeing this simply turned a blind eye as new orders were being analyzed and talked in hushed tones. The current rumor was that the whole war was unstable with a distinct chance they would be met with failure in the eyes of their patrons the Iron Drakes. 5th and 7th Regiment weren't the only regiments slowly losing unit integrity. 1st and 2nd Regiment was forced to all but merge in order to maintain a decent battle roster. 9th Armored had every available Taurus seconded to them as the inexperienced tank regiment experienced attrition on a scale that the maintenance companies were wholly unprepared for with many of the tanks being sent to back to Tarth were later on found to have small errors that could've been easily fixed in a maintenance bay.
The Tarthian Guard wasn't remotely ready to handle a war at this scale whilst the majority of its defenders were less than adequate for the simple task of holding the line. 10 regiments of armed guardsmen were enough to bolster the defense of a planet or be its spearhead. They accomplished their goals well enough being able to contain the threat which was more than one could expect from such a fresh guard unit with little experience and tradition compared to those proud regiments from Cadia. Their ability to contain the Ork threat could be attributed to the superb leadership of the Iron Drakes, the compliance of the planetary governor and the hard-fighting spirit of the lowest trooper. 5th regiment's officers were wholly focused on how to maximize their assets expecting disaster to strike somewhere along the line.
General Sosa was stressed, to say the least. The Iron Drakes as a whole were less than helpful completing their own missions and in effect leaving the trench lines where they were dearly needed. Rumor had it, a strike force was to end this talk of rebellion. True or untrue, he only found data pointing to Orks no longer massing in the open like before, formations of Orks appearing seemingly appearing out of nowhere with little to no signs of battle damage and as far as the Imperial aviators could tell. The Orks didn't exist on the planet until the battle was met meaning there was some safe haven allowing the Orks to rest, refit and refuel to continue for a long war.
General Sosa, well aware of these invaluable factors, felt the fear only a long war could bring. The Iron Drakes went to war as one would go to a job at a local manufactorium. The job was finished when it was finished bringing all the supplies they needed in their own internal fleet. General Sosa, on the other hand, didn't have the luxury the Iron Drakes had. Conscription edicts, multiple vassals and a keen awareness of political situations from his time speaking with Amber had left the wizened man to know if this war wasn't won within a short period of time he would pay dearly.
The Great Drake held a particular fascination with the guard that General Sosa benefited from, but he now wished was never in the Iron Titian's interests. Conscripted Tarthian, Tuspapasian, Edroytisian, and Zesparian soldiers were guaranteed certain items like liquor, lho sticks and time off to return to their families to counterbalance the potential unwilling servitude to the Iron Drakes or rather the guard. A war always interfered with such noble ambitions to make life a bit more bearable for the guard, but this was a point of conflict as with word a PDF commander rebelling well… terrible losses, a guard filled with green boys, broken equipment and a threat that seemed to be endless. At what point would the guard break and rebel. If only a small portion rebelled would that cause the locals to rebel as well possibly turning this world on its own saviors? The Great Drake ever-present with wisdom told Skaar to worry not, but the voice in his head told him this war needed to be ended quickly.
The victory on the walls for the 4th Regiment was being broadcasted as a resounding victory for those citizens of Belbora. In reality, the 4th Regiment had only effectively ended any offensive capability of the green skins in that combat zone which was one of five. Three combat zones were considered or rather proved to be more than able to push back even with the bottleneck strategiums and the superior firepower of the guard. Hotly contested with troopers being thrown into a meat grinder, General Sosa found himself feeling guilty as he cared no longer about PDF and IG losses, but the amount of equipment lost and artillery rounds fired as despite the pool of resources he could call upon. He was unsure how sustainable operations could be when he was forced to open the doors to his armories to the hundreds of thousands of PDF conscripts and 5th and 7th regiment who seemed to break every weapon handed to them.
He had yet to send supply ships back as a single Ork ship had managed to survive the battle, and the fleets scouring the system had no idea if the Orks would return or if they had raiding fleets lying in wait to attack any splinter fleet leaving or returning with supplies. What if there was no Ork fleet, but his ships were lost to the warp. Keeping his supplies in the system at least guaranteed him said supplies until he ran out. This also prevented him from getting in a shouting match with the Admiral about who had authority over what. As nice as the admiral was, branch loyalty held strong above all else.
The next action would be to ask for help. Unfortunately, Calling for reinforcements was a burden too far for the guard as well. Zepspara was continuously plagued by pirates forcing the 15th and 19th garrison regiments hard-pressed to even keep a line of recruits from filling their own ranks. Before they left, the natives once again rose up forcing the Tarth garrison to protect its own assets and seek out their foes farther and farther from home as they pacified the planet with its own wealth of deadly fauna. If he was to take a single regiment he threatened to allow one conflict to evolve into another war in which to fight when they returned home severely depleted in number, equipment, and morale.
He didn't fault the Iron Drakes for wanting to increase their influence and help the wider Imperium or for wanting to bloody their new Astartes. It was just a poor time for the guard to take on a conflict of this size with a force authorized 50,000 men but with little more than 34,471 guardsmen on the battle roster and in all fairness this would've been an easy conflict if some of the PDF regiments didn't go traitor. They weren't with great numbers only 50,000 - 100,000 fighting men from what recon had determined, but they held some self-sustaining bastions of defense that turned the small number of turncoats into a force much more able to take on any foe that wished to oppose them.
This was, of course, was a well-protected piece of information. The 7th Regiment was the only guard or PDF unit to know the true extent of the rebellion outside of top brass. The reason being was the traitors in their higher concentrations fought the Orks as many of their strongholds were not on the main continent and therefore were considered a Ferrus level threat meaning General Sosa had zero intention of sending his men to fight on foreign soil for a "Throne" that meant nothing to his men. Warp took him, half the men on Belbora thought they were fighting on Betram completely ignorant to the name of the planet. Fewer still knew there was a planetary governor instead thinking like on their own planets a small council ruled the planet.
Nonetheless, General Sosa was to continue his mission to root out the green skins. The Great Drake promised the Iron Drakes would handle the small pockets of traitors before turning on the large concentration on the western continent which of course was expected to need at least half of the guard regiments there to simply siege it and another 20 regiments to take it from what General Sosa's advisors had informed him.
After hours of planning, arguing and bartering. General Sosa had decided that a follow-up attack where the 4th regiment was deployed was in order. The battle was only days old with a dozen smaller attacks occurring since then meaning the green skins had to be on their back foot. The 4th regiment also had been bolstered by 3 PDF regiments, the combined forces of 1st and 2nd regiment, and potentially Task Force Bloodied Hand. If three more days of planning were given 9th Armored and at least 2 more PDF regiments could be taken off recovery to take Combat Zone Alek a flattish grassy land area that spilled into a peninsula of dead lands created from some long-ago war.
Plans were immediately drawn up in a feverish pace with General Sosa taking it upon himself to plan the logistics for such an attack not just for the Imperial Guard, but the PDF regiments and local militias. General Sosa sent what commanders he could and sent short Vox messages to those unavailable for a multitude of reasons from wounds to pressing matters at hand. Phase 3 was drafted in a mere 12 hours and it would commence in only 3 days with or without the help of the Iron Drakes. It was only after the operation began General Sosa would fall ill from the lack of food, water, and sleep.
"Troopers attention!" hundreds of men stood as one from their crouched positions standing at attention in full kit. Colonel Moonsun sagely nodded as he saw 3rd Battalion fully assembled and ready for battle. An appreciative nod was pointed to the officers themselves sitting amongst the men as leaders as opposed to the untouchable officer corp the Rivians seemed fond of. The weeks of war had bonded the men closely, and he was sure men would die for one another officer or enlisted.
"3rd Battalion all present and accounted for Sir. We stand ready for your orders" Sergeant Darius while never an officer was universally treated like an Astarte. A wide berth was given to him, immediate obedience was expected and more than a few feared him more than death. A reputation gained from being the primary instructor for the training of the regiment, and his career of being one of the finest NCOs in the Tarthian Armed Forces.
"Very well Sergeant. Take. Seats" in unison the men sat on their rucksacks rifles held in their right-hand barrel pointed down and left hand firmly planted on their left knee cap as per regulation.
"We step off today warriors. 1st and 2nd battalion are receiving their briefings in their respective hangers. Right now, 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 9th regiments are taking the fight to the enemy. They will kick out the enemy in two weeks. They will win glories, accolades, and medals. We, on the other hand, have an even greater goal. We will reinforce a PDF bastion behind enemy lines on the coast. We will save these sad souls and then encircle the Orks. We will be the anvil that the hammer hits. We are the only regiment fast and light enough to accomplish this mission. We will forge the path to victory once again men. Mount up" the men had been training for days in preparation. The officers threw their men in every exercise they could conceive that would help for urban battle. Days of checking gear, repacking and silent anticipation for the mission left many Helikians spoiling for a fight.
A moment was left alone as the men bowed their heads and said a silent prayer. Then as a great multitude, the troopers stood and began heading to their assigned Valkyries. Their previous battle losses allowed the 781 man battalion to be loaded up by the 4 valkyrie wings with more than hundred-odd men forced to stay behind as the second wave as not everyone could fit on the three dozen Valkyries.
Trooper Munzn went to Ghost 9 loading up with his squad of 7. The faces of his fellows were unknown recently assigned to them once his last squad was cannibalized to help plus up other squads to a decent size. Their sergeant was named Straffen. A good trooper promoted much too early that seemed to always second guess his decisions. The squad had a heavy bolter and a stubber with both weapons having a crew of two with his fellow "scout" Charr like Weber assigned to carry two boxes of heavy bolter ammunition and two belts of stubber ammunition.
The pair awkwardly fell in beside one another not out of shared friendship, but the shared misery being an ammo bearer could be. The squad now loaded strapped in placing their extra gear in the designated storage areas on the ship tightly strapping down anything that could possibly hurt if it went flying. Moments later the Valkyrie locked its doors and the men descended.
The pilots while not as usually concerned with land battles as the guard still felt the stiff anticipation forced to do mock runs for the guardsmen. Flight paths and plans were drawn up for a dozen different destinations and pilots while usually not well aware of the technical know-how of many parts of their ship was forced to visually inspect with a tech priest to ensure everything was in good order. Those pilots and crews seconded to the 5th regiment also had to be briefed on what their ground-pounding counterparts more than aware of the vital role they would play. They took to the sky with a terrible roar.
The pilots sped to the planet aware that speed was of the essence. The hour-long flight was to be shortened in any way possible. The tech-priests blessed every part, and the pilots felt superbly confident in their crews. The Valkyries pushed past the recommended limits to send their cargo on their way. The guardsmen used to Valkyrie flights found themselves wholly unprepared for the speed and daring of the Valkyrie pilots. Gut-wrenching acceleration and turns threw the rangers guts into their throats. Each man strapped in as tightly as one could hope.
Their chosen transports were first and foremost air support flying to relieve the defenders and find the optimal place to land their precious cargo. The normal regiments got the chance to do fine wining and dining landing in nice cumbersome troop landers. 5th Regiment was made for these aerial assaults with many members being run through the gauntlet in preparation for these high speed turns with the expectation of one day being in a strike like this.
Another lurch and ear-popping descent the intercom buzzed to life. "1 minute! Landing zone identified" most guardsmen before they landed would prep weapons and gear. 5th Regiment didn't have the chance to hold onto dear life as the Valkyrie pilots were told to fly as if no human cargo was in them during their flight briefings, so they could rotate out faster. The squad leader could only eye his men and attempt to speak before puke found it's the way all over the deck and his men. A few more twists and turns the landing doors opened. The men closest to the doors kicked thick ropes out and unbuckled themselves immediately rappelling down without a command. Every second exposed their flyboys to incoming fire and the 5th Regiment had the best fliers and they would be damned if they lost them. Especially, this early in the operation when every trooper counted.
10 men fell from the Valkyrie and took up position alongside the PDF forces ignoring the surprised dumb awestruck faces of their lessers. Before the 5th Regiment was the green tide slowly moving towards the town. The town laid on the coast with a wall facing the Orks. The wall was long ago destroyed in older wars, but PDF troopers used what remained as the foundation of their first defensive lines. Out at sea, half a dozen old ships that looked like they belonged in old museums provided the coastal town the fire support that held the defenders together. A loose string of fishing boats slowly came into port dropping off fresh supplies and taking wounded. The city was under siege and in truth. It was the bravery of the militia that held the town together.
"Oh boy are we glad to see you!" A PDF soldier covered in dirt and blood with a set of stripes on his helmet. The rangers ignored him shoving him out of the way taking his place in the firing position. While the Tarthian boys shook hands and greeted their counterparts. Helikian boys treated the PDF with a cold professionalism that bordered hostility. They learned that the PDF was just as likely to shoot the Orks as they were to turn tail and run away. The faster they established fire superiority. The higher the chance would be that the troopers wouldn't break within the first hour.
The battle the 5th regiment fell into was one of the admittedly slower tempo. It was a splinter Warband that was tired of the frontal assaults on the defensive line of the 4th regiment and wanted to simply fight to end the boredom without the same old boring kill zones. Sending in a regiment at all was admittedly overkill much less with air support. It was at most a probing attack as they saw quick work the Valkyries made of them. The Orks had no idea the town would be reinforced considering for many if not all the town was news to them until their new leader mentioned otherwise. The Orcs sensing a good fight simply disappeared under the increasing weight of withering fire as stubber, heavy bolter, and mortar crews setting up and firing without caution to the wind.
In minutes the Orc Warband was reduced to mincemeat and the guardsmen began to take in their surroundings. They landed in some type of outpost just outside the confines of the ruined wall. In front of it laid the usual fortifications of trenches and minefields and past that the green tide or rather the retreating wave of the green tide. "Weber! Get over here!"
"Moving Sergeant." Weber picked himself up from his firing positions and ran over to sergeant Straffen. The PDF elements came close on the outer edges of the circle forming around Sergeant Straffen curious at what their savior had to say. "Higher wants us to move an hour ago and prepare to encircle the Orks. Calix company is already scavenging for local transports, so we can roll as soon as possible. Major Varrock has sent the green light for landers. 1st and 2nd battalion will be coming sooner than expected if we can keep the city secure. We move out in 2 to link up with our element" a chorus of acknowledgment rang from the men. The stubber and heavy bolter teams broke down their firing position with one man carrying the weapon system itself and another forced to heave the tripods onto their shoulders and resting on their neck and rucks. Along with Munzn and Charr carrying boxes of ammo, the squad only had one man with his rifle at the ready. The heavy bolter gunner knelt as Charr and Munzn stacked the heavy bolter on top of his truck and used two roped to wrap around and hand to the gunner to prevent the bolter from sliding off of him.
"What about us!? We have strict orders to hold this area!" The PDF sergeant spoke up seeing his saviors turning tail to run away as far as he could tell.
"What about you? You've held this town just fine. I'm sure you can hold it a little longer" the gunner was in pain and as he got on all fours and was helped up to a standing position he pointed in the general vicinity of the 4th regiment. "We have plenty of boys coming. Now, you hold tight and leave the rest to the 5th!"
In moments, the squad was ready to move with Straffen giving one last nod of confirmation to the vox operator relaying orders. Once the final instruction was given. The Helikians navigated through the treacherous wreckage of fortifications and homes to reach their rally point only a few hundred meters away. Sporadic gunfire could be heard on both sides as the two reassess the situation at the sudden influx of guardsmen landing.
Trooper Munzn was heaving trying to catch his breath when they finally reached the rally point. The grim faces of his platoon mates met his own exhausted Vistage. Munzn noticed a few faces were missing from various squads before he shoved it to the back of his mind. "Listen up warriors, the PDF units here are holding by a thread. The Colonel wants us to stay put and make sure we have a secured landing zone for the next wave. They're hauling in the fat transports, so this is probably for the best. I want 1st and 2nd squad to remain here and be our base of fire. 3rd you're our left flank and 4th you're our right. Our left and right limits are 300 meters. Any questions?"
"Sir"
"Yes Sergeant?"
"Helikian doctrine says 100 meters is considered too far…"
"Any questions?... Good ruck up we have forty minutes until the next wave."
Every squad muttered their confirmations before voicing their own opinion of their mission in the safety of their own squadmates. Trooper Munzn agreed with the general consensus with his comrades. Something happened to the frontal assault that caused the higher command to already change the time tables of what needed to get accomplished. This sat ill with every trooper worth his salt with the growing thought that the offensive was going to end poorly. The bellyaching continued until Straffen stopped the men to look at them in their eyes and say his two thrones.
"Can it boys, the Colonel wouldn't abandon us and neither would the Iron Drakes. Keep cool heads and we'll get these boys out of here if we retreat or we'll finally purge these filthy Xenos."
A/N
Super short filler 5k chapter, I'm currently planning on moving. A lot of stress, and I decided to send out a shorter chapter to explain the Fic will be taking a 3 month long break. Fear not, I will rewrite the first 5 chapters into something more readable and work with Austan123.
Best,
SITH