Chapter V:

Voices in the Void

Liberté et Égalité, Republic of San Magnolia, June 1st SY 2148

Vladilena Milizé entered the administrative headquarters of the Republic Armed Forces, Palace Blancneige, with a bland face. She hurriedly passed through the entrance lobby where other officers and handlers like her lounged about and drink the day away, uncaring of their duties and image as officers.

She passed her ID card through a scanner before heading straight for the Research and Development department of the palace to meet up with her childhood friend, Henrietta Von Penrose. As she climbed up the stairs to the R&D department, she passed a young couple intimately kissing in a warm embrace, their hands wandering through each other's uniform.

Lena pulled her peaked hat down and hid her blushing face under her shoulders, hastily reaching Annette's working floor before she died to embarrassment and severe case of flushing red face.

"Hey, Annette," Lena announced shyly as she walked in her friend's office.

The technical adviser greeted her with a tired mumble, eyes half closed and hands cupping warmly her mug of substitute coffee. "Ah… hello my second-best friend…"

Lena turned and eyed her curiously, a teasing grin appearing on her lips, "Oh? And who's in first place?" She asked humorously.

"My mug," Annette immediately replied, "At least they stay to keep me warm at night and in the morning," She explained with accusatory eyes directed at her friend.

The Major sighed heavily and sat down in front of her, "I told you a hundred times, I am not going to your blind dates or help you find a suitor," She replied dryly, "I already have a plateful with my mom this morning, I don't need you to add to it,"

"Aaww, you're a meanie," Annette pouted dramatically before taking a sip of her coffee, "Oh by the way, there's strawberry cheesecake in the fridge,"

"Thanks but I already had-"

"Made with real cheese and fresh eggs," Annette opened an eye, a cat-like grin formed on her face. She had deliberately pronounced the words real and fresh slowly to persuade Lena.

"… breakfast…" Lena muttered, her silver eyes staring at her widely, her mouth watered with anticipation to consume the dish made with fresh ingredients.

"The strawberry purée is also made with real fruits and picked up fresh yesterday," She added smugly, knowing that Lena would cave in instantly.

As predicted, Lena rushed to the fridge, a plate already in one hand, "I freaking love you, Annette!"

"I know you do. I love myself too," Annette replied pridefully.

After taking her second breakfast, Lena stayed with Annette while she worked on updating the Para-Raid. With her friend focused on her computer screen, she fetched the after-action reports Undertaker sent in yesterday. She read through it only to stop in mid-sentence, eyes narrowed with suspicion as she analysed the report more closely.

"This must be wrong…" She muttered as she fetched the previous reports.

"What is?" Annette asked curiously, glancing idly at her.

"Either I am extremely tired, or he didn't bother writing a real…" Lena didn't finish her sentence, comparing two documents side-by-side, "I knew it. He wrote exactly the same report from two months ago," She shook her head, "I'm going to have to bring this up soon,"

"Why do you even bother?" Annette asked carelessly.

"About what? The reports?"

"About them, Lena," Her friend clarified pointedly.

"Annette, we've been over-"

"They're going to die no matter what you do," She continued without taking her eyes off her screen, typing away as she spoke out, "They won't get their freedom nor their citizenship no matter what you do. The Republic will fuck them over, will send in a suicide mission and you'll cry your eyes out to me when I told you so oh so many times ago,"

Her typing stopped harshly. Lena stared at her back in stunned silence. They've argued from time to time about their conflicting point of views on the Eighty-Six with Lena persistently fighting for them while Annette had to beg her to stop caring, they were nothing more than small cogs to a massively corrupt and disgustingly ironic and unethical republic, spitting at its own values that it miserably failed to uphold due to greed, cowardice and fear mongering.

"… I'm sorry, Lena," Annette apologised regretfully, "You know how much I hate these types of conversations… can we please not talk about them in the office?"

"Yeah… sure…" Lena reluctantly conceded.

"Thank you… I promise I'll make it up to you,"

She returned to her typing, an awkward silence settling in the office. Milizé nervously fidgeted with her peaked cap, trying to ease the mood between them.

"Say, do you think there are other lifeforms in outer space?" She suddenly blurted out, earning herself a surprised coughing fit from Annette.

She spun around and stared at her in bafflement, "Where the hell did that came from? That's one hell of a change of subject matter," She returned to her work and typed away her program, "To answer your question… I suppose that there may be another lifeform out there, hopefully more advanced and sympathetic than us…"

Lena quietly nodded and cautiously glanced out of the office before activating a switch by the office's door, polarizing the glass panels, fully obscuring the office from outside intrusive eyes. Annette turned around and eyed her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, Lena, if this is your way to confess your feelings for me, I'm flattered but I'm going-"

"Will you shut up for once?" Lena interrupted harshly, internally biting down her tongue for sounding ruder than expected, "Sorry, I have to tell you something very important… like mind boggling important that you can NOT share with others."

"You're scaring me, Lena. I'll take the love confession from you any day now,"

"Can you please be serious?" She asked sternly.

Annette kept her mouth shut, silently complying to Lena. She ushered her to lean closer, not wanting for any intruder to walk in on their conversation. "Do you trust me, Annette?" Lena asked in a hushed voice.

"I mean yes, you're my only friend here,"

Lena observed her friend closely, mauling over her words to deliver her next statement as clearly as possible, "Okay… two days ago, Spearhead squadron made contact with another military force…"

"From another country?" Annette asked surprisingly. Lena shook her head in response.

"They claimed that this military force, about a regiment or two strong, possess laser and energy-based weaponry along with an air force, tanks, walkers and more. They said that these people came from space and that they had space vessels currently orbiting above our world and moon,"

"And you believed them?" Lena nodded. Annette sighed and pinched her nose bridge, "Lena, I like you, okay, but you are possibly the most naïve person I know. You even believe in ghost stories for Pete's sake!"

"Hey! There are a lot of recorded and unexplained supernatural phenomenon throughout History!" Lena argued defensively, "And you may not believe in them, but I do have proof that these people from outer space do exist, you can listen to the audio recordings I've gathered," She handed to her a USB key, "Listen to them and tell me you haven't heard anything like it," She urged her.

Hesitantly, Annette grabbed the USB key and inserted it into her personal laptop, not wanting a virus to infect the entire network of the Armed Forces. "I swear, Lena, if this is some easily explainable anomaly, you owe me dinner,"

"Accepted. And if I am right, you're going to help me find maps of Spearhead's sector," Lena challenged confidently,

"Deal."


Another Valkyrie landed on the tarmac, dropping off a squad of Kasrkin stormtroopers. It has been agreed upon that the Cadian 501st stationed at least an Imperial Guard quick-reaction force with Spearhead squadron. Two platoons from First company have been hand-picked by the general himself to be the Eighty-Six's QRF. Accompanying the Cadians were a company sized detachment of Death Korps grenadiers, combat engineers and heavy weapons squads to bolster the base's numbers and defence.

Campaign tents have been set between the airstrip and the Eighty-Six's barracks. A handful of Chimeras were parked by the tarmac, a small team of techpriest enginseers and servitors were already on site for reparations and blessings.

The commotion has gathered the curious eyes of the processors and their maintenance team. One of the red-robed techpriests of the Adeptus Mechanicus was inspecting the Chimeras when they accidentally fell upon a large quadrupedal orange mechanical entity. The techpriest didn't seem alerted or cautious when seeing the unmanned robot but was rather curious.

"I don't recognize this unit," The techpriest, in a somewhat feminine and mechanical voice, stated, "Imperial and Mechanicus records show no sign of this unit's fabrications or variants." Her head tilted slightly to the right, "What is your designation?"

The robot, an autonomous Scavenger built by the Republic, beeped happily at the techpriestess, its two frontal legs tapping joyfully.

"I see, the varlets have designated this unit "Fido". Imperial records have shown that ground soldiers often named object and animals because of affection towards said subject. I assume that is the case for you, Scavenger unit TP-8006?"

Fido, as it was named by the Eighty-Six, beeped argumentatively, defending its namesake proudly, "This unit's machine spirit is combative, unfit for its designated role. Suggesting transfer to a more combat oriented role,"

Meanwhile, Aldrecht and his maintenance team observed the exchange in disbelief and confusion. A passing Kasrkin walked by them and glanced at the techprietess seemingly arguing with a robot, "Don't bother comprehending, she's always arguing with anyone and anything," He explained casually before returning to his duties.

Lieutenant Holmes stood outside one of the hangars, surveying the activity with fixated attention to detail. The Kriegers were already working on digging trenches and heavy weapons emplacements around the base. Foot patrols were already established by the Krieg grenadiers, covering the base's perimeter in teams of five.

Colonel Frazyer has entrusted the lieutenant to maintain morale and discipline of the QRF and keep a close eye on the Kriegers for they may not be as tolerant and pragmatic as the Cadians when working with ignorant heathens. He was assured by Captain Parris that the Death Korps detachment will follow and obey the lieutenant. Despite this, he wished a commissar would be with them, at least morale and discipline will always be maintained.

Shinei Nouzen started to make his way towards him. The Cadian stormtrooper observed the young boy with a critical eye. The commanding officer of the Spearhead Squadron still wore the obsolete desert camouflage tanker jumpsuit, a handgun strapped in his black thigh holster.

"Lieutenant," He greeted with a formal salute.

"Captain," Holmes acknowledged with a nod, "Is there something that you need help with?

"Yes, I'm going to have to ask you to halt all air sorties. A Republic aircraft is about to land on the tarmac, if you could warn the others to not shoot it down. It is our only source of supplies,"

"Very well, captain," Holmes nodded, "Gelt! Send out a message to all units and flyers that they do not shoot down the aircraft that is about to land."

"Yes sir!"

As informed, a large grey cargo plane was spotted making its landing towards the tarmac. The heavy aircraft landed with a screech; its massive tires traced black outlines on the asphalt airstrip. The aircraft slowly turned around before halting by a large hangar, its rear compartment door descending.

Holmes and two other Kasrkins, Gelt and Mons, followed Shin and the Eighty-Six towards the cargo aircraft. He spotted two uniformed men in deep blue and white dress uniforms with matching peaked caps and bright and golden shoulder tabs that denoted their ranks. Their uniforms reminded him strongly of the rigid and fierce Mordian Iron Guard, their ceremonial and flashy uniforms would often mislead the enemy into believing that they were a mere parade unit.

He noted that one of the Republic soldiers was armed with an archaic looking autogun. He glanced at his men and pointed at the armed soldier, prompting them to keep a closer eye on the designated target.

"Ah, looks like the Grim Reaper himself graces us with his presence!" The Military Policer officer barked sarcastically upon setting his angry silver eyes down on the stoic Shin.

"Morning," he said impassively, grabbing the clipboard and reading through the inventory list. At the same time, the processors and Fido started to unload the aircraft, pushing the wooden crates filled with ammunition, medical supplies, fuel, spare parts, rations and water.

"Enjoy these supplies while you still can," Shin heard the man spat at him, spewing the same venomous words at each supply drop, "You good for nothing Eighty-Sixers… hey! Who the fuck are you?" He heard the switch in tone of the Alba.

Shin's attention diverts to the trio of Kasrkins that were stoically facing the furious Alba officer. The others halted and watched the scene while holding their breaths. This could easily turn into a bloodbath and forcing a war with the Republic.

Holmes eyed the officer up and down, silently judging the man's poor uniform standard and creases that he failed to iron out. He crossed his arms judgementally and gazed more meaningfully at the officer. He noted the shoulder tabs.

"I presume that you're an officer, right? A lieutenant perhaps?" He asked out loud.

"Of course, I'm a lieutenant you dimwit!" The Alba officer shouted angrily, "Now answer me this: who the fuck are you? Which squadron are you from?"

"Firstly, I think your commanders should demote you to private for failing to clean your uniform fitting of an officer. You are an embarrassment and should be ashamed and publicly humiliated for your lack of professionalism… lieutenant," Holmes stated with disdain and held back rage, "Secondly, how come a soldier like you or your puppet over there aren't on the frontlines to protect your homeland? Are you that much of a coward to let others fight and die in your stead? Can you actually call yourselves proper soldiers?"

The officer was fuming, his fists tightened until his knuckles turned white. He was severely aggravated with this Eighty-Six's attitude, he didn't care if he had friends or that they wore armour, he was an Alba, and they should know to respect his absolute authority. Grabbing his telescopic baton, he lunged for Holmes.

"Why you-"

Holmes grabbed the man's striking hand and delivered a powerful punch to his face, blood spat out of his mouth. In a swift and fluid motion, he twisted the man's wrist, an agonizing scream echoed in the tarmac and quickly silenced him by driving his armoured knee into his guts. He expertly slammed him on the cold metallic ramp and held the man under his boot.

The armed Alba soldier hastily shouldered his rifle, forgetting to chamber a round into his weapon. Mons rushed up the ramp, slapped the weapon away and struck the young man across his face, knocking him on the ground. Gelt rapidly aimed his hot-shot lasgun at the two other crewmembers of the aircraft that were about to grab their pistol.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," He warned forbiddingly. The men quickly raised their hands up in surrender.

The Alba officer groaned and squirmed under Holmes' weight. The Kasrkin officer knelt down so that they were face-to-face, shifting his weight further down on the beaten man. "To call yourself an officer is an affront and insult to others like me and my fellow troopers that have bled and died on the battlefield in the name of the God-Emperor. You're a disgrace to the uniform and I would happily execute you here on the spot for cowardice. To have children fight in your stead, you and your retched people deserve nothing but to be slaughtered in a death world and then have your children and their children die by the thousands,"

He grabbed the man by the throat and effortlessly lifted him up, directing all of his fury and determination into his vice-like grip, "Deliver this message to your superiors, that the Imperium of Man has set foot on this planet and will not go away until we bring this world back into the Emperor's light." He easily threw him into the aircraft, pushed down the last supply crate, "Now go. Before I change my mind."

Mons picked up and kicked the last Alba soldier into the plane. The pilots of Spearhead Squadron watched with shock and bewilderment at the exchange as the plane hastily flew out of the tarmac, running away from the confrontation with its tail between its legs.

"Hah," Holmes clapped his hands to shake off the dust on his gloves, "I needed a good shakedown. Hopefully, that man doesn't die before sending my message,"

"I think you went a bit overboard, boss," Gelt pointed out sheepishly.

"Nonsense. If it were Hekler or Gunther, that plane would already be up in flames," Holmes argued with a hearty chuckle.

Raiden stared back at Shin with equally shocked and disbelieving wide eyes, "Oh, we're so screwed now…"

"The Major isn't going to like this," Shin nodded, "I hope they won't reduce our supplies from now on,"

"Yeah, I highly doubt that, dude…" Haruto chimed in, mouth still agape.


Emperor-Class Battleship "Cadia's Requiem", Earth's Orbit

General Farestein reached the battleship's bridge, meeting once again with Admiral Ravenkin. After a long negotiation with the highest-ranking officer of the battlegroup, the two officers have come to a conclusion: they will stay in place and free the world if possible until they can get a Warp translation for Vigilus. The other vessels of the battered battlegroup stood by, with a couple of smaller vessels stationing at the planet's moon for resources.

Ravenkin spun around and greeted the Cadian general with a formal head bow, "General, glad you could make it,"

"Admiral," Farestein greeted back, "I suppose you summoned me to share some news,"

"Indeed, general. Mainly scan and scouting reports that would help understand this planet and its inhabitants' plight," She pointed at the command table's hologram. Box of texts popped up around the holographic representation of the planet, "The good news is that this Republic of San Magnolia is not the only nation still functioning and fighting,"

"There are others?"

"Indeed, we've detected three other, large nations and a couple of smaller ones. The Legion's controlled territory is right in the middle of it all, with some territory outstretching in the north and east."

"So, the enemy is surrounded by these nations? Why have they not communicated this to us? They should have enough numbers to encircle and crush those abomination machines!"

"Unless they are fighting them with literal sticks and stones, I would be more inclined to agree with you however, this is where the bad news comes: communication lines have proven to be extremely difficult or even nigh impossible because of a worldwide jammer across the main continent,"

"A worldwide jammer? Have you managed to locate the source of the jammer?" Farestein asked.

"Our search was inconclusive, we're trying our best to find its origin. For now, your men will have to contend with short range vox comms but even then, we're encountering another problem. There have been reports by your men and the Kriegers of … voices of the damned infiltrating their vox lines. How is it possible or where it comes from, we do not know, and we need more intel. Intel that your allies can provide," Ravenkin demanded diplomatically.

"I'll see what I can do, admiral. Anything else I can provide?"

"A plan of action for our introduction to the Republic, general,"

"The time's not right, admiral," Farestein answered bluntly, "This needs to be a softer approach. We barge in with these ships above their cities and they might start fighting us back,"

"Then we will suppress these heretical heathens and destroy them. We do have the capacity to obliterate their primitive cities to ashes, general,"

"I know and they'll be reminded when the time is right. For now, we need to lay low, gain their trusts and get more intel so that we can destroy the Legion and end this war as soon as possible. We first need to contact the other Eighty-Six squadrons, if they are still alive,"

"Very well, general, I shall put my vessels on standby…"

They both stared at each other in silent agreement. She glanced behind herself, making sure that her staff personnel were working and that there were no risks of eavesdropping. She walked closer to the general and leaned forward. "Tell me, general. Do you perhaps have some free time later in the day?"

General Farestein's flushed red and looked at her in bewilderment, "Really? Right now?"

"I'm just throwing an invitation in the air, general, nothing else," She whispered coyly before returning to her command post.

Farestein remained in stupefied silence before he spun around and made his way towards the elevator, "Maybe later in the day," He halted for a second to deliver his reply.


Annette couldn't believe her eyes, more accurately her ears. Those sounds, the snippets of communications that somehow managed to infiltrate through the Para-Raid… it didn't make any sense to her. She stared incredulously at Lena.

"You… you are telling that those soldiers, that came from space, are humans?"

"Yes," Lena nodded convincingly, "They call themselves Cadians. I've tried to search up for that name on the internet or books about space or even old maps on this continent, nothing matched,"

"We did go to space once but that was like over a hundred years ago. We didn't go further than the moon landing," Annette added, still in shock, "What the hell does it mean? Why are they here?"

"From what the Undertaker told me, they get lost during their travels and are unable to travel further on, stuck orbiting our world,"

Annette chuckled dryly, "Great, our first contact with extraterrestrial beings and they are humans with better technology than us but they somehow got lost… how typical of humanity as a whole,"

"So, do you believe me? Will you help?" Lena urged her with big pleading eyes.

"No… don't do those puppy eyes, you know I can't say no to that!" Annette looked away and crossed her arms.

"But you promised that you'll help me if you believed me!"

"I know and I will! Just stop cheating with those eyes, you know it's unfair,"

Lena lunged at her, arm wrapped around in a warm hug, "Thank you. I knew I could count on you,"

"Yeah, yeah…" Annette rolled her eyes, hugging her back, "Just let me finish this quickly…"

A couple of minutes later, the two women walked out of the office, heading for the palace's library. Along the way, they started to notice that people were getting nervous and agitated, running about with urgency. Lena noted that there was a sudden increase in military police officers in the palace and they were all armed with assault rifles and batons. The other officers and cadets avoided them, supposedly returning to their duties.

They paid no mind and continued to the library. Reaching the bottom floor to the library, they were shocked to find it particularly empty. They reached the reception desk and rung the bell.

An older woman appeared behind a row of books. She carried a tall stack of books in her frail arms and hurriedly placed them down on her counter. She dusted off her Prussian blue dress uniform and refitted her low bun.

"How may I help you, Major?" She asked formally with a salute.

"Master Sergeant, I was hoping if you have maps, even old ones, of the Eastern front's First Ward,"

The chief librarian leaned out of her counter and looked left and right before replying, "Major, I'm sure you haven't heard, but a grave incident happened at the First Ward. A supply craft brought over two severely injured men of the military police. An investigation has been launched and they are desperately looking for a culprit,"

"What? Were they shot at?" Lena asked worryingly.

"No, just badly beaten up but both injured men are currently hospitalized so we can't be certain. I say that the Eighty-Sixers over there tried to start a revolt,"

Annette and Lena nervously looked at each other. "Okay… we'll come back at a later date," Annette pushed Lena back to the staircase.

"What are you doing?" Lena asked heatedly once they were on the staircase.

"Is this your doing? Ordering your squadron to beat up officers? Or perhaps asked their new friends?" Annette accused her fiercely.

"What? No! I wouldn't want that! I have not taken part in any of those," Lena defended herself strongly, "And I pretty sure that no one in Spearhead would do such a thing!"

"How can you be so sure? What tells you that none of them would actually seek help from them to start a revolt? Seems like a good freaking opportunity to do so,"

"Annette! I would never do something that would put good people in harm's way!"

"But you're just one person, Milizé, you can't control what others think or act. Nothing you said or did would change their mind and hatred towards us, be realistic!" Annette stated bitterly.

"And have more faith in me!" Lena shot back, "Ever since I took command of Spearhead Squadron, there haven't been any discussions about annihilating us or starting a revolution. We talked every night and they have been respectful towards me. I can promise you with my life that this isn't the work of Spearhead,"

Annette held her stern gaze, trying to catch any signs of betrayal, "Fine," She said tersely, "I'll believe you, but it'll be harder to convince the MPs, because no matter how you spin this story, you're still their handler and so connected to the processors of Spearhead, meaning that if you were wrong, I won't help you settle your court martial and eventual prison sentence," She warned coldly and made her way back to her office.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to work! I suggest that you do the same and prepare yourself for a court martial. Your uncle will surely call you to his office soon,"


The night was surprisingly calm. None of the Eighty-Six pilots ever went out on patrol during the day, Captain Nouzen told him that there was no need since the Legion was still licking its wound. How did he know, Lieutenant Holmes ignored it but reassured the men that they could rest up and enjoy the quiet night since the Kriegers were adamant on keeping sentry duties in their hands.

Hekler won't complain, that just meant more rest for her and her fellow Kasrkins. She walked out of the mess tent, having just finished her meal she decided to take a night walk in the base, taking notes of its facilities and maybe finding a cool spot to rest on.

As ordered by the lieutenant, the guardsmen were allowed to wander without their armour or primary weapons with them, so long as they had a secondary weapon and the combat knife for self-defence. She went past the parked Chimeras and hangars and followed the dirt path out of the airfield, wanting to wander around in the forest located behind the Eighty-Six barracks.

Katra wore the standard issued khaki tee-shirt. Her woodland camouflage combat trousers were free of the carapace leg armours, she felt lighter and more at ease with the cool nightly breeze. Laughter and loud chatter caught her attention as she came about the long two-story building. Set up in the front outdoor courtyard were two long picnic tables where the pilots of Spearhead squadron were enjoying a feast and festivity.

Cooked meat filled the air, a makeshift steel gas grill spewed out hot flames as it cooks perfectly the meat still laid out. Anju and Raiden manned the barbecue while Daiya and Haruto passed around drinks. Two much younger pilots playfully chased around each other with water filled balloons. Theo sat on an aluminium folding chair, drawing portraits of his fellow pilots that sat in front of him, wildly exaggerating some of their unique facial features.

Shin sat down on the steps on the courtyard, reading while idly playing with a small black and white furred cat. Even their robot companion, Fido, was present, letting people jump on top of him and slide back down from the side.

Katra couldn't help but smiled wistfully, feeling somewhat jealous of their still intact childhood. She, like others born in Cadia, was not so lucky to have a childhood. Being so close to the Eye of Terror, the next generation of Cadia was quickly enrolled into military drills, learning how to use and fire a lasgun before reading and writing. Years of drills, hiding in bomb shelters, cleaning up the streets of corpses and training as a Whiteshield left many permanently scarred and grizzled by the experiences, transformed into the precise, disciplined and best Imperial Guardsman the Imperium has ever known: the Cadian Shock trooper. And for the very few that have been hand picked and survived its gruelling training regimen would be part of the elite of Cadia and the Imperium, the best of the best, falling short of a Space Marine, the Kasrkin Stormtrooper.

She was one of them, a cold, calculated and stoic Kasrkin. Stalwart warriors and fanatically dedicated to the mission and defence of their home world, the Kasrkin is revered and admired by their fellow Cadians, unlike the Tempestus Scions of the Militarum Tempestus.

"Oi! Want to join us?" Kaie's loud voice stirred Katra out of her trance. The black-haired girl waved at her eagerly, beckoning the Cadian woman to join them, "Come! The food's excellent!"

Hesitantly, Katra made her way towards them, earning the attention of the Eighty-Six pilots. They threw curious glances at her before returning to their activities.

"Here, join us," Kaie slid away to let a place at the picnic table, "Don't be shy, you can sit with us… unless you were ordered not to…"

"No, I'm fine, I can join you guys," Katra reassured her with a sympathetic smile as she sat down next to her.

Also sat at the table and dining were Lecca, Kurena, Kuroto, Mikuri and Myna. Daiya passed by and offered Katra a plastic cup of water before joining Anju and Raiden at the grill. Myna, a short and slender girl, leaned toward Katra and rested her head on the palm of her hand, gazing curiously at the newcomer.

"Where did you get your scars from?" She asked bluntly, earning herself a slap behind her head by Lecca.

"Myna!" Lecca berated sternly, "Sorry, she can be blunt when something piqued her interest," She apologized sheepishly.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," Katra replied with a raised placid hand, "These scars were shrapnel from a bolter round,"

"What's a bolter round?" Kuroto asked curiously.

"Did it hurt?" Myna added with childlike amazement.

"A bolter round is a large, hard-hitting calibre that is basically a miniature, rocket powered grenade slug. It is about the size of my fist, and it is meant to punch through armour and then explode inside,"

"Cool!" Kurena and Lecca said in unison.

"And yes, it hurt like Hel. I was the unlucky bastard to have received a shrapnel from an Inferno bolt round," Katra clarified flatly.

"Inferno round? Like it burns their targets or something?" Kurena asked.

"Yes, and there are many other variants, like Kraken bolts, Hellfire bolts, Stalker rounds-"

"Is it true that those huge backpacks are used to power up your laser weapons?" Io, who joined them a second earlier, asked with wide eyes.

"Ah, yes, we needed it to use our hot-shot lasguns, which are basically upgraded lasguns with better penetrative power, so the Legion's armour is no match for us,"

"How heavy is it?"

Katra was bombarded with questions, with each answer garnering more inquisitive questions. Unknowingly, they were all around her, listening to her tales. They were grandiose stories of her past battles and campaigns, daring missions fought against foes that were far worse than the Legion. Katra shared her deadly encounters with aliens of varying sizes and forms or of intrepid search and rescue operations deep behind enemy lines.

Throughout the night, the Eighty-Six were basked and filled with imaginations, trying to picture Katra and her squad's missions. Despite the horrors of a grim and dark galaxy of the far future, they were more amazed and awed by her exploits, her stories moved and rejuvenated their fighting spirit. She had something they have lost years ago: a home to fight for, a family to protect at all costs, an honour to uphold in the name of Humanity. Katra was a war hero in their eyes, valiantly facing Death and any threats that dared to defy Humanity. She had purpose.

The Eighty-Six were nothing but cattle and meat shields for the Republic that didn't even care for them, willingly sending them to the slaughter in droves. They fought for their own survival despite knowing that they would all eventually die on their sixth year of service. But for once in their lifetime, the pilots of Spearhead were inspired to fight. They were inspired to fight like the Cadians, to be the light and shield of Mankind.


Republic of San Magnolia Eastern Front's First Ward, June 13th SY 2148

The engines roared; their treads rolled over the cracked asphalt road of the abandoned town. The columns of Basiliks mobile enclosed artillery tanks halted in place, their massive Earthshaker cannons pointed upwards as they acquired their target coordinates.

"Standbyyyyyyyy! Fireeeee!"

In a thunderous cacophony of artillery salvos, the Earthshaker cannons rocked the ruins around them, the ground trembled intensely with each barrage, further cracking the asphalt beneath their treads.

The Earthshaker rounds soared into the air before plummeting down on top of their targets. The artillery shells smashed into the Legion's ranks, ripping and tearing apart their drones to pieces and mangled husks. The remaining survivors were quickly picked off by an accurate volley fire of heavy lascannons and bombast cannons from field ordnance batteries set up at the edge of town.

Decimated by the effective artillery fire, the Legion withdrew, picking up whatever salvageable pieces of their fallen they could grab. They were mercilessly gunned down when a company of Armoured Sentinels and Chimeras chased after them. The deployed Cadian Shock troopers rushed out and pushed them further out of town and into the open grassy fields and dirt roads of the Republic's countryside.

On the right flank, Wehrwolf led a vanguard of Juggernauts assisted by a squadron of Storm Chimeras. The combined arms forced the Legion down a valley, funnelling them towards Undertaker and the rest of Spearhead while platoons of Kasrkins lay in wait to spring their ambush.

Blending well with their environment thanks to their new camouflage pattern, the Kasrkins with a Death Korps Grenadiers heavy weapons squad heard the incoming heavy rumble of Löwe tanks and followed by the mass of Ameise and Grauwolves.

Hekler waited patiently next to a Demo-trooper from Goliath squad. The demolitions specialist wore a heavily modified Kasrkin carapace armour made to withstand the blast of an explosion. He along a Krieger engineer demolitions expert have planted Melta-mines, primed and connected to their detonators.

Katra herself was also armed with the deadly meltagun, the bane of any armoured unit in the galaxy. Although closed range compared to the plasma gun, the meltagun is a prized weapon in an Imperial Guard arsenal. Able to vaporize and punch through the thickest of armours, the sub-atomic weapon doesn't overheat and explode nor does it make loud noises, a perfect tool for infiltration units that needed to punch way above its weight.

Their targets came into view, rushing down the slope and harmlessly passing by the hidden Imperial Guardsmen in the woods on the sides. Springing out in front of the hostile column was Undertaker and two other Juggernauts, prompting the Löwe tanks and Grauwolves to focus fire on them.

"Now." Holmes ordered.

"Have a nice day, tin cans," The demo-trooper activated the detonator eagerly.

The melta mines exploded beneath the drones' legs, the intense thermal energy blasts melted through their armour, transforming their victims into molten husks. Melta gunners sprung out and poured out deadly streams of small-scale fusion reactions, eating through armour, even the Löwes were no match against the mighty and anti-armour specialist weapon.

The ambushers struck out and poured out a flurry of energy and kinetic fire. The Scout and Dragoon types dropped like flies, their carcasses piling up as they were struck down from all sides and with no escape in sight. In a desperate attempt, the Grauwolves pushed up the rocky mounds on the sides to meet the Imperials in close combat.

The elite Cadian and Krieg stormtroopers denied them, the wave of plasma and melta fire putting an abrupt stop to their charge.

In mere minutes, the company-sized Legion force was wiped out, not a single survivor in sight.

Holmes ordered the platoons to push down and execute any survivors, making sure that there were no Legion machines that pretended to be destroyed.

"To everyone in Spearhead Squadron, this is Handler-1, I want to express my gratitude for another successful operation with zero casualty, let's hope we can keep this up," Major Milizé stated gratefully, "No further enemy troops in sight, return to base and rest up, you deserve it,"

"Copy that, Handler-1, we're returning to base," Shin obeyed bluntly, turning his Juggernaut around and began the trek back to their base.

"Undertaker, may I make a request?" The Major asked nervously.

"What it is, Major?"

"Is it possible that tonight I may speak with… uh… your new friends?"

"I'm going to ask them, but I can't promise you they'll agree to it. They did cause an incident a few days ago," Shin replied honestly.

"I'm aware of the incident, Undertaker, that is why I wish to speak with them. If possible, I want to open communications with them and offer my support,"

"Are you sure that is okay with you, Major?" Raiden asked concernedly.

"We've already discussed about this, Wehrwolf, you don't need to worry about me," She reassured him confidently.

"Yeah, she's a big girl with big dreams, Wehrwolf, leave her face the consequences," Theo commented sarcastically.

"I'll see what I can do, Handler-1. May I cut the comms?" Shin requested formally.

"You may. We'll talk later tonight, Undertaker,"

"Hey, Shin," Kuroto called him from behind, "The lieutenant wants to speak with you,"

Surprised, Shin stopped his Juggernaut, "Okay, go on ahead, I'll catch up with you, guys,"

"Copy,"

He opened the canopy of the Juggernaut's hull. The LCD screens turned black, and the bright midday light poured through. The canopy opened quietly, and he unbuckled his seatbelt, jumping out of the war machine. Meeting him midway, Shin gazed attentively at the armoured Cadian soldier. Although his face was hidden behind the Kasrkin pattern carapace helmet, he could feel the man's eyes boring down on him, as if silently inspecting his behaviour and uniform.

"That was a nicely executed plan, Captain Nouzen," Holmes spoke up formally.

"Thank you, lieutenant, but we couldn't have done it without your men. We're honestly shocked that you are all willing to face the enemy head-to-head on foot,"

The Kasrkin laughed, shaking his head, "I don't mean to brag, captain, but that is the least of impressive exploits we have done. And compared to what we used to face, these Legion machines are nothing," He emphasized by kicking the molten slab of metal that used to be a Grauwolf, "Impressive and quite cunning, but no match for Cadian steel and resolve, sir,"

"Please, don't call me sir, lieutenant. I should be the one to say that,"

Holmes nodded appreciatively, "Very well, Nouzen. I do want to bring an issue that may help our forces in future operations: the complete lack of communications,"

"I agree with you, lieutenant. Without having a Para-Raid or your radios, we're blind as bats over here,"

"Exactly. Is it possible that you may give us one of your Para-Raids as you call. I'm pretty sure that our techpriests can reverse engineer it," Holmes suggested diplomatically.

"I'll see what I can do, lieutenant,"

"Thank you. Guess we should start digging in. The Legion might've finally decided to launch a night raid,"

"They won't. Their energy is solar powered, they need the sunlight to operate at fully capacity. Night raids are extremely rare since they have a chance to shut down in prolonged engagements," Shin explained as a matter-of-fact.

"Interesting," Holmes hummed pensively, "What about the voices we sometimes hear on our comms?"

"You can hear them?"

"Sometimes. We already have a hard time to use long range vox comms, but in short range, we can sometimes hear them. It is quite bothersome and impede in our executions of operations." The Cadian informed confusedly, "Do you guys encounter the same problems?"

"Yes, that is how we know that the Legion are coming even before our early warning systems,"

"How is that possible?"

Shin's mouth formed a thin line, trying to explain it to the Cadian without revealing too much about his natural abilities and the Para-Raid's unique capability to achieve communication by artificially simulating his bloodline's psychic powers.

"Do you remember when I said that the Republic has been mislead to believe that the Legion's drones have a limited lifetime, expecting to die out in two years?" Holmes nodded carefully, unsure what to expect next, "The Legion has found a new way to extend their operational lifetime by collecting the brains of their victims no matter the period of their death or condition of the organ,"

"Yes, I remember that part. What does it have to do with our comms acting up?"

"Depending on the victim's brain, some drones develop almost independent thinking, capable of planning and setting up ambushes, knowing basic military tactics and adapting to any new threat. These are called Black Sheep. They are the link between the Legion's main command and the mindless drones…"

"Like Synapse creatures of the Tyranids…"

"I was more inclined to say ant hiveminds but sure… tyranids…" Shin repeated the word unsurely, "Anyways, these Black Sheep often repeat the dying words of their victims, usually to lure us out or use it as psychological warfare, sapping our morale. Those are the voices that you've been hearing,"

"And if we destroy these Black Sheep, would the rest lose control?"

"There are always multiple Back Sheep within a unit but if we do take them all out, then yes, the others would either retreat or simply revert to their basic functions of just charging in a straight line,"

"Interesting. Thank you, Nouzen, for sharing this crucial intel with us,"

"It is no problem, lieutenant. I hope you guys can actually reverse engineer the Para-Raid, it would solve a lot of problems for us," Shin replied as he made his way back onto his Juggernaut, "Until later, lieutenant,"

"Captain," Holmes nodded to him respectfully.


Milizé waited patiently behind the general's office door. After her recent mission, she was summoned to his office. The MP officer didn't say the reason behind the summoning, but she had her guesses.

"Come in!"

She heard him holler from inside. She walked in, closing the door behind her and dutifully stood in front of his office. Her uncle, the Brigadier General Jérôme Karlstahl, stared at her sternly with bags under his silver eyes. The cynical man bore multiple gruesome scars on his face, a reminder to the other officers and soldiers of the Republic that he used to fight on the frontline before his beloved Armed Forces became a cesspool of drunkards, corruption, laziness and complacency.

"Lena, do you exactly know why you have been summoned into my office?" He asked rhetorically, knowing well that his niece was probably the only smart and cunning officer fitting and deserving of her rank.

"Is this about the rumour that happened to a resupply crew?" She answered sharply, feinting ignorance.

"It is not a rumour, Lena, it is an incident that happened. Two of our soldiers were injured in that incident,"

"They probably deserved it," She shot sarcastically.

"Major Milizé!" Karlstahl scolded sternly, "I will not stand this rebellious behaviour from you! People got hurt, at least respect them a little for they wear the same uniform as you,"

"A uniform that has lost all of its significance, meaning and respect it supposed to have," Lena retorted defiantly, "Don't try to fool me that you also call them soldiers when none of them saw combat,"

"Neither did you, Lena,"

"I'm sorry, but was my father's death not enough to remind you that I did witness the frontlines? Perhaps I should've died fighting over there. Oh, no wait, I forgot! I was just a freaking child, sorry for not picking up a weapon, general," Lena replied viciously.

Karlstahl sighed tiredly and raised a defensive hand, "All right, I'm sorry. That was my bad," He apologized emphatically, "I just want to know if you have information that the processors of your squadron have anything to do with this. Were they planning a revolt or lashed out on the two MP officers?"

"No sir, they wouldn't anything like that. They are preoccupied with fighting off the Legion than be bothered by those pompous assholes-"

"Lena," The general warned menacingly. "Very well, you may be dismissed. I'll cover this, but it'll be the last time,"

Lena didn't reply. She rigidly saluted him and spun around, walking out of his office. Waiting for her just outside was a military police officer she met at a class of cadets a few days ago. He was a tall and young Alba man, his short and spiky silver hair sticking out under his peaked cap. He was present when she tried to relay the true history of the Juggernauts to a class of in-training officers. She was certain that he reported on her seditious speech that day but somehow came to deaf ears since she hasn't been reprimanded since.

She ignored him and made her way back to Annette's office. She felt him following her but tried to ignore the feeling of dread. He quietly followed her and just as she was to access the elevator, he blocked the closing automated door with his baton, entering the elevator with her.

A tense and cold silence reigned between the two. He stopped the elevator midway and swiftly slammed Lena against the glass panel behind them. Lena struggled helplessly from his vice-like grip, fear surmounting her.

"W-what do you want?" She asked nervously, trying to sound tough and defiant at her captor.

"You're quite on a streak, Major. First sedition and now assault on fellow officers, that should be enough to arrest you and condemn you to a life sentence for treason to the Republic. You're extremely lucky that your mother and uncle are in high places," The officer stated gravely, "No one can hear you scream here, no one can help you here, I could easily snap your neck or do worst things to your body," He threatened coldly.

He suddenly released her, pressed a floor button and picked up her fallen peaked cap, "I suggest that you watch your back, Major, the Holy Magnolian Order watches everyone," He declared ominously before nestling the peaked cap back on her head.

The elevator rang when it reached his floor. He wordlessly saluted her and walked out. Lena quickly closed the elevator door and rested her back against the glass panel, her heart beating out of her chest. It was one of her most stressful moments, she thought that he would beat her to death or even worse, rape her. She calmed her breathing as she reached the R&D department.

She received a message notification on her tablet. She glanced down and saw that it came from Annette.

"Meet me in the library, found your prized maps. Be quick, MPs are staring at me weirdly"

Looks like those weren't empty threats. The Republic's fanatics, the Holy Magnolian Order of Pureblood, were a handful of people in important places in Alba society that was behind the Eighty-Six policy. They openly express their desire for a pure white Alba country, completely revolted by the previous government's open policy on accepting Colorata in the country.

Since the war with the Giad Empire and subsequently the war with the Legion, some of the governmental figures that were part of the Order took over the power and have ruled over the Republic since then. The President's spokesperson, Yvonne Primevére, was a prominent figure of the Order and adamantly defended the current inhumane Eighty-Six discrimination. It was because of people like her that eternally soiled the Republic's reputation and image. If the world was aware of what they have done, they would've condemned the entire country and finacially ruin them.

Lena sighed heavily. The situation has gotten worst but she wouldn't let them change her. She would not bow down, nor would she crumble under their threats. She will remain true to herself and fight for a better Republic, even if it meant going against her own government.

"If push comes to shove… I'll play dirty as well," She promised bitterly.


It was another quiet night. Patrols were reduced but the Kriegers insisted on staying alert, once again taking over sentry duties from the Cadians. Lieutenant Holmes entered the barracks of the Eighty-Six, making his towards the building's lounge area. Opening the door, they immediately stood at his attention, as if scared that he would reprimand them.

Under normal circumstance he would, but since they were no guardsmen nor even PDF cadets, he didn't care. "At ease, kids." He instructed before halting before a small, furred creature. The small cat looked up the tall man with curious golden eyes. It meowed at him then tried to climb up his leg. "Hey, hey, I'm not your plaything!" He gently grabbed the kitten and pulled it off him. The small feline creature meowed in protest, struggling to escape the man's grasp.

"A little fighter, I see," Holmes giggled warmly. He set it down, "There you go, soldier. Does it have a name?"

"We can't decide on what to name it," Daiya explained with a sheepish grin, "His names were Whitey, Blackie, Calico, Kitty…"

"Remarque," Kurena added.

"Yeah, we're not going for that one," Daiya retorted blandly, "Do you have a pet, sir?"

"Don't have such luxury, kiddo," Holmes replied bluntly, "Spent most of my time on the battlefield. Emperor knows how many times I almost got myself killed,"

"Lieutenant, the Major is ready to communicate with you…"


"Ah, can he hear me?" Lena asked worryingly.

"No, but you can hear him. We'll relay your message to him… You can speak up, lieutenant," Undertaker told the man in the room.

"Ah, right. I'm lieutenant Holmes of Spartan squad, First platoon, First Company of the Cadian 501st Regiment. Who am I speaking to?"

"Major Milizé, handler of Spearhead Squadron, Republic Armed Forces," Lena stated, with Shin repeating it to the lieutenant. "It is an honour to speak with an ally to Spearhead and I extend my gratitude for the help you've provided,"

"The honour's all mine, Major. I've heard quite a bit about you. They told me that you were the only one that is willing to cooperate with us. Is that right?"

"Yes, I'm willing to help in any capacity you need, lieutenant,"

"Very well. We can start by tackling our first major issue: communications. Out here on the field, my boys can't vox in with Spearhead and neither do they. Adapting and knowing each other's whereabouts is quite a pain in the ass when we can't even speak to each other. We want to avoid getting them killed by friendly artillery fire or air strikes,"

"Yeah, I wish to not being blown to smithereens because someone got the coordinates wrong," Raiden commented jokingly.

"Of course, what do you need then, lieutenant?"

"A Para-Raid," Holmes requested straightforwardly.