The world of Gulgath, M40

Three days had passed since they left Kheive and embarked on their first deployment. The void travel getting there was uneventful, at least physically. Mentally however, the pressures of upcoming combat were considerable. Jeffrey felt far from ready, especially considering all the news he was hearing from the front. He had heard more stories and rumors about the Orks, for the sake of his sanity he chalked it up to exaggeration.

The world they were deployed to was a small but resource rich moon orbiting a gas giant. The system was currently being contested by both the imperium and Orks, but the imperial navy luckily held sway currently. The wrecks of both imperial and Orks vessels were scattered across the void, many of which where being harvested by mechanicius ships for raw resources to be used elsewhere in the war.

The name of the world was Gulgath and it was a relatively young colony, having only been founded over four thousand years ago. It was roughly the size of Terra's own moon and contained a single large landmass as it's only continent named Jhul. The land was dominated by hills and pains, with large forests scattered around as well. The major cities were focused around large mining operations, with the more significant but still minor settlements generally located on the hills and rivers.

The people of Gulgath, were hardy folk and served under the protection of the Adeptus Mechanicius. Belief in the machine cult was more popular here than that of the imperial cult and subsequently it's people were less trusting of the imperial forces sent to hold the planet. None of that mattered to Jeffrey was who was only really concerned at that point about the tactical and strategic situation they were facing, which was a mixed bag. One on hand the imperials, under general Basilla Thamata had delivered the Orks a significant defeat in the battle of Red wood bridge a few weeks ago, the Orks still posed a significant threat on the world and it was believed that gearing up for another offensive.

The Imperials held two thirds of the world and six of its ten major cities, including the capital of Xil. The Orks had been pushed to the north west, with the crimson river acting as natural barrier. Just beyond the crimson river on the Orks side lay forests which were suspected of hiding Orks would raid the imperial garrisons on the border.

That was where his new job came in, his squad under the command of Captain Ronan would be performing armed patrols on the border of imperial territory, looking for any signs of an Ork counter attack brewing. Jeffrey, sighed more annoyed than anything about being put effectively as bait, but he kept his poor attitude to himself. So much had changed in just a few weeks he had thought to himself, for instance they had been issued the same bright white uniform and blue flax armor as the rest of the regiment, though the pauldrons had been left blank labelling them as "white shields" by the more experienced soldiers. And they had finally found out the old name for their tank, which was the "indomitable", a name that Jeffrey hoped it would live up to.

Their reconnaissance mission started out well enough at first. They had started the patrol at 0500 hundred hours, for Orks were known to have poor eyesight and thus be at disadvantage in the dark. Jeffrey was happy to take advantage he could, but he still didn't feel comfortable in side the tank yet. The interior of tank smelled of rust, iron and paint as well as the musk of sweat, from the nervous crewmen. Jeffrey squirmed around as he continually scanned the vid feeds of the environment around them.

They had just passed over the wide bridge crossing the crimson river and into "Ork territory" for lack of a better term. The mood inside the tank was sombre to say the least, it felt they were alone despite being escorted an platoon of foot slogging infantry. The infantry were sure to keep a wide berth of the "indomitable" especially once they heard it was being driven by rookies. The infantry were divided by two squads in the front and two in the back with about twenty feet between them and the "indomitable".

The imperial patrol went a central road with the forest flanking them from both sides. The road itself had been damaged, likely bombed earlier on in the war. The concrete had broken off in many sections, revealing the dark brown dirt beneath. The forests felt ominous, almost suffocated by the trees around them and how obfuscated potentially almost anything. There could hundreds, thousands of Orks around them, all waiting for the perfect moment to strike, thought Jeffrey. Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Captain Hoel Ronan spoke, "Remain calm but focused and vigilant. Do not let the enemy get into your heads so easily. Orks are ferocious and surprisingly cunning, but they are not subtle. When the time comes the enemy will reveal themselves".

Jeffrey wasn't exactly encouraged by those words but he managed to keep some more of his composure. His eyes kept scanning their flanks as well as what was ahead of them. The crew kept silent as the indomitable kept creeping forward, soon a small settlement came into view in a clearing on the side of road. The buildings were clearly xenos in origin due to their shotty construction and blasphemous effigies. Jeffrey rolled his eyes as he saw Ladislo visibly recoil at the sight of the xenos constructs. The pious crewman muttered hymns to Emperor as they passed the campment, Jeffrey was about to tell him to shut up when he saw a flash of light from the woods northwest of their current position.

An explosion rocked the indomitable and the crew inside, stunning Jeffrey as his world turned upside down. The interior of the tank became a haze of yelling and activity as Jeffrey desperately tried to regain his wits. Gun fire pressed on all side of the indomitable as Orks descended on them from all sides. The small arms fire bounced off the think armor of the Russ but the sound it made as it impacted the armor was almost deafening from the inside. Captain Hoel Ronan shouted orders that Jeffrey could barely understand in the heat of the moment.

The other crewmen were scarcely doing any better as they panicked under fire. The infantry around them died by dozens, as the Orks pressed in. Ladislo began firing wildly his heavy bolter, screaming his hate at the xenos. Hoel screamed an order to back up, which eventually was followed as the indomitable reversed, crushing both Orks and the bodies of dead infantry men around them. Eventually training kicked in and instinct took over and Jeffrey began calling out targets for the battle canon. They managed to get a few shots off, blowing up half a dozen greenskins.

It was too little too late though and soon the Orks had mounted the vehicle and trying desperately to peel the commanders hatch open. Jeffrey neared a nervous breakdown as he felt the horde of Xenos closing in on them. "This is how I die, on some Emperor forsaken world, torn apart by Xenos" Jeffrey thought solemnly, resigning mentally to his fate. The terrible sound of metal screeching as it was peeled open. A hideous monster with dark green skin, glowing red eyes and teeth far too big sharp leered down at the crew. Suddenly, on the vox comms the sounds of imperial reinforcements rang, soon followed by the sounds of multi lasers from Chimeras and Sentinels. The Orks were swiftly driven back off the indomitable and back into the forest from which they came.

The indomitable was escorted back to imperial lines and received repairs as the crew likewise recovered. Jeffrey sat by himself, huddled by a fire, his body shivering from the shock of combat and coming so close to death. His mind was still racing from the chaos they had just been delivered from, so lost was he in his own mind that he didn't notice Captain Hoel Ronan standing over him. The Captain's harsh voice snapped him back to reality, at least partially as he looked up to the Captain who had an unreadable expression on his face. For a brief second he thought he saw pity, or maybe it was a sense of understanding in the Captain's eyes,

"You screwed up, there is no beating around the bush. You lost your nerve, as gunnery sergeant you are supposed to call out targets and help keep command" Ronan said with a stern expression, but then that expression softened as he sat down beside Jeffrey.

"But you know that well enough by now I bet. We got lucky, we got out and now we have a chance to learn from this. I will tell you a secret, I was just like you the first time I saw combat, I panicked and it cost people their lives. It ate me up inside, but you what my commander told me?" Ronan continued, his tone getting slightly warmer as he spoke.

"He said son, when your are in the thick of it, don't think about honor or glory or the Emperor or any of that other bullshit they tell you to think about. Instead rely on your training, your instincts and think about the boys around you. Your squad is your world now, your Imperium, your galaxy, that is your lot in life now, don't let your squad down and they won't let you down" Ronan then waved over to the rest of the squad who were each dealing with the trauma in their own way.

"This is your world now, they are Imperium to you, fight for them, live for them and they will do the same for you" Ronan finished as he offered the still recovering Jeffrey a cigarette to calm his nerves. Jeffrey declined as he thought over the words the Captain said and attempted to resolve himself to never again freeze like that in combat. He resolved himself and swore under his breath that they were going to survive this war, if he anything to say about it. He slowly got up and approached the rest of his squad and tried to comfort them as best as he could, after all right now they were all each other had.