Chapter I:
There is only war
It is the 42nd Millenium. For over ten thousand years the Imperium has fought a brutal war for its survival. In this grim and dark galaxy, there is only war. Every human soul, from the most high-born lord to the most basic servitor, is dedicated to the service of the God-Emperor of Mankind.
The Imperium's vast battlefleets and armies, from the conscripted soldiers of the Astra Militarum to the elite Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, keep humanity safe from alien threats and cosmic horrors beyond imagining.
A division of veteran guardsmen and guardswomen are thrusted to yet another gruelling campaign in the Segmentum Obscurus to defend a strategic world located near the Nachmund Gauntlet. Unfortunately, an incident during their warp jump will spiral them off course and into another world.
The fight for survival remains the same, but the enemy has changed…
Republic of San Magnolia's Eastern Front
"Not that way! Kirschblüte!"
Corporal Katra Hekler sprinted through the woods with the rest of her squad. The sound of battle was muffled under her Cadian-pattern "Kasrkin" carapace helmet. She could only hear her own rhythmic breathing, her beating heart and the orders of her squad leader.
"Over here. Double time." He ordered stoically through the integrated vox system. The squad quickly lined up over a small ridge, overlooking a marshland, their hot-shot lasguns aimed at the blasted mechanical beast known as an Ameise Legion drone, "Hekler, blast the fragging thing!"
"Copy that, sir,"
Hekler brought up her plasma gun and charged the energy weapon. The weapon hummed while its blue radiant glow intensified, immense heat radiates around the small reactor before she pulled the trigger, releasing a superheated bolt of energy.
The miniature solar flare slammed through the six-legged machine, melting through its circuits and armour like a hot knife through butter. The Ameise whined and groaned before losing balance and crashing on its side. The damages done by the supercharged plasma bolt hissed loudly as molten metal dropped in the thick murky water, hissing soundly upon impact and releasing hot steam.
"A bit overkill, don't ya think, Katra?" Joked trooper Galen Kholm.
"Shut it, Kholm," She replied with a proud grin on her face, covered behind the carapace helmet.
"Form up a perimeter. Mattias and Hekler, extract the pilot."
"Sir!" They replied before sliding down the ridge.
The ten-man squad took positions quickly, trooper Mattias and CPL. Hekler reached the downed Juggernaut. The war machine was much lighter and lengthier than the Ameise. It has four lanky and jointed legs, equipped with a high calibre cannon and it has a small and lightly armoured cockpit; its form resembled that of a Catachan devil. The Juggernaut's armour is so thin that even a heavy stubber can pierce through it, let alone a single bolter round. Their pilots affectionately called their war machines a walking coffin or a Guillotine, it was built so that the pilot would die with it.
Katra climbed the whitish brown canopy of the Juggernaut and slammed onto it, her armoured glove echoing with metallic thuds.
"Open the cockpit!" She yelled at the pilot.
"Jenniah, this is Spartan 1, where are those Death Korps reinforcements you promised? We're going to be overrun,"
"Spartan 1, the Kriegers are encountering heavy enemy fire but they're pushing to your position. ETA 10 minutes… uh, maybe more," The flight lieutenant of their Valkyrie replied sheepishly.
"Copy that, we'll hold as long as possible. Spartan 1 out,"
The cockpit opened with a loud hiss; its canopy whined as it struggled to pushed itself open. Katra peered into the cockpit and spotted the pilot, a young black-haired girl, probably no more than eighteen. She was covered in sweat and grime, eyes wide with fear while she struggled to release herself from her seat.
"Here, let me help you," Katra said with a soft voice, taking out her combat knife and slashing the seatbelt. She swiftly dragged the girl into her arms and carried her out of the downed Juggernaut.
"I… I thought I was dead…" The girl whispered shakingly, trembling like a scared puppy in her arms.
"Stay strong, little one, we're almost out of here," Katra consoled her while Mattias, the squad's medic, examined the girl for any injuries.
"Contact front! Three hundred metres!" CPL. Gunther announced, his hot-shot volley gun raised and pointed at the wave of humanoid like drones charging towards them, supported by more Ameise light drones and two more armoured and heavier Löwe drones.
"Form up and wait for my signal." The lieutenant ordered sternly, "Remember: do not let these abominations get close. They're packed with explosives and primed to send us to the Warp!"
"Two hundred metres!" Gunther repeated.
The elite Kasrkin squad waited patiently, their improved hot-shot lasguns trained on the wave of humanoid drones. These were the Legion's self-propelled anti-personnel mines, their lithe figure allows them to be extremely fast and nimble, able to dodge, weave and perform acrobatic jumps to close in with their targets.
"A hundred metres!"
"Open fire! For the Emperor! Cadia Stands!"
"Cadia Stands!"
The barrage of super-concentrated laser blasts cuts through the humanoid drones, melting and igniting their explosive charges, causing a fiery chain reaction that rippled through the marshland. The shockwave was powerful enough to blast a wave of murky water on the Kasrkin squad.
"More incoming! Scout types!" Kholm reported.
A handful of Ameise drones were destroyed in the initial volley, creating obstacles and blocking the path of their unmanned brethren. Katra continued to lay down accurate and deadly fire of plasma bolts, destroying each enemy drone with a single shot. Sporadic autogun fire flew at them, ricocheting off their carapace armour. Once the Löwe drones were in range, they opened fire their 120mm smoothbore cannons.
Tall plumes of mud and murky water splashed over the Kasrkin, prompting them to spread out and take cover behind the wreaked drones or shell holes.
"Wyvern 6, this is Spartan 1. Status report on extract?"
"I'm a bit busy, Holmes!" Flight lieutenant Jenniah replied through gritted teeth, "These bastards sure hate flyers… I'm coming to you but their flakk rounds sure are persistent, damn it! ETA unknown, Spartan 1!"
"We're going to get cut to pieces if those things zero on us!" Katra yelled behind cover, cooling off her plasma gun.
"Our reinforcements should be here right about now," The squad leader announced coolly.
As if on cue, two Storm Chimeras suddenly emerged through the woods behind them, their autocannon turrets swerved and fired a barrage of high explosive shells, tearing through the Ameise with ease. The Krieg pattern Chimeras flanked the Juggernaut and let loose a 20-man squad of Death Korps guardsmen that formed a rigid firing line and provided cover fire for the Cadian grenadiers.
"Mattias, stay with the girl. The rest of you, fall back to the kriegsmen."
Lieutenant Holmes ran up to the Korpsmen firing line, casually dodging bullets flying by his head, "Are you the Watchmaster?"
The faceless Krieg guardsman turns around and acknowledges the Kasrkin officer with a rigid salute, his gaunt rebreather and black, lifeless lenses staring back at him. The Watchmaster, the equivalent of a sergeant in the Cadian military, was equipped with a chain sword and a laspistol.
"We're going to hold this position until we get extracted by Valkyrie. What kind of special weapons do you have?" Holmes inquired.
"Two plasma gunners and two grenade launchers," The Watchmaster answered flatly.
"Tell the Chimeras to focus on the tanks, we'll handle the smaller ones,"
"Understood," The Kriegsman nodded.
Kaie Taniya watched in horror and awe from behind. In horror as the reality of their situation was grim as more and more Legion drones poured through the marshland, pushing through the destroyed carcasses of their fallen just to kill them. In awe as the men and women before her stood their ground against overwhelming odds, unflinching and fighting with as much ferocity as her fellow processors. She shakingly unholstered her sidearm and racked the slide, bringing the semi-automatic pistol close to her as she mentally braced herself to fire her weapon.
A Krieg guardsman's head jerked violently backwards, his corpse falling heavily to the side. A burst of machine gun fire ripped through his neck and head, instantly killing him. His squad mates paid no mind as they kept their position and laid down accurate las-rounds into the enemy machines. Their Lucius-pattern lasguns had a slower firing rate than a Kantrael-pattern, the ones used by Cadian shock troopers, in exchange for more penetrative power. Their lasguns were just as effective as a hot-shot lasgun, lacking the need of a back-pack mounted power supply.
The Legion being unfamiliar with fighting the forces of the Imperium of Man have not developed an armour strong enough to withstand the concentrated laser beams of the humble lasguns, let alone the stronger hot-shot lasguns or the more powerful plasma guns. The Ameise drones stood no chance against the 30-man platoon of guardsmen. Their machine guns bounced off the Kasrkins' armour while the Kriegsmen in trench coats and rebreathers fought on unflinching despite taking several wounded.
Another guardsman fell on the ground with a pained groan, clutching his shattered right knee. Another burst of rounds hit him in the stomach, pelvis and ribcage. He quietly rolled on his back, his breathing ragged and short. Before Mattias could even stand up to patch the wounded guardsman, the Watchmaster fired a las-round into his head, administering the Emperor's peace.
"Ah frag me!" Trooper Mons groaned in pain, putting pressure on his left upper arm.
"You all right, Mons?" Katra asked while providing cover fire.
"Yeah," Mons answered imperturbably, administering himself a pain-killer shot before grabbing a sterile gauze, "They just clipped my left arm, that's all," He informed with a nonchalant shrug.
"Can you fire your weapon, Mons?" LT Holmes asked as he walked over to him, casually glancing at the enemy drones.
"Of course, boss. The Emperor still needs me in the fight," Mons replied and shouldered his hot-shot lasgun, laying down a flurry of high-powered laser beams through the Ameise's armour.
"Hekler, think you can hit one of those tanks?" Holmes asked.
Katra peeked her head out of her cover, scanning the battlefield and spotted the two Löwe tanks. The Legion's tank types were much heavier, bigger, had better armour and were deadlier at long range than the scout types. Despite their weight, they were surprisingly agile and fast thanks to their eight three-segmented legs, allowing the war machines to climb over difficult terrain and dodge attacks. The only downsides are their low sensor capacity, meaning that they weren't equipped with thermal imaging, high-end night vision or even an internal radar, and they had poor gun elevation. Plasma and melta guns can punch through the thick armour but the specialised gunner must be extremely close to hopefully achieve such a feat, a task that demanded a lot of courage, faith, skill and a side of luck.
Located at over five hundred metres away from them, Katra couldn't even hope to hit her target. The Storm Chimeras on the other hand have the range but not the penetrative power to destroy them.
"Negative, boss. They're too far away, I'll have a better chance at hitting the side of a grox at this range," Hekler answered frankly.
She could see that her last remark made the officer chuckle lightly as he shook his head to restrain himself.
"Very well," He turned to the Death Korps guardsmen, "Watchmaster! I want smoke rounds down range, blind the tanks so we can pull back and out of their range." He instructed with a cold determination.
"Sir, yes sir." The faceless Watchmaster replied dutifully, relaying his orders to this squad.
The two Krieg gunners load up smoke rounds before aiming high and firing a salvo in an overarching arc. Rounds left white trails in the air as they plummeted on top of the Löwe drones. The tanks ceased their barrage, forcing themselves to move forward.
"Now's our chance! Pull back to the tree lines!" Holmes ordered loudly, "Bounding overwatch. Go!"
The platoon separated into smaller elements, each laying down suppressive fire while the others pulled back a dozen metres and set up overwatch fire. One of the Storm Chimeras took a direct hit from one of the Löwes' blind fires, the 120mm round flew through the driver's compartment, instantly pulverising the driver and tank commander before igniting the engines and torching the rest of the crew. Its turret jumped out of the chassis like a Roman candle as the autocannon shells cooked off and detonated erratically. Two other guardsmen were killed by the explosion and flying shrapnel.
The other Chimera launched its smoke rounds, cloaking its retreat behind a thick cloud of white smoke. The platoon ran through the treeline and set up their firing positions behind the dense foliage and tree trunks.
"Wait for my command. We want those tanks as close as possible." Holmes instructed stoically.
Surging through the smoke cover were the Ameise, firing at the Imperials' cover, showering them with a barrage of bullets. In their charge, some of the scout drones got bogged down in the swamp, creating obstacles for the others. One the Löwe tanks appeared out of the smoke cloud; its long cannon trained on the remaining Chimera while being oblivious to the line of guardsmen to its right.
"Plasma gunners, open fire on the tank!"
Katra with two Krieg plasma gunners lined up their weapons and let loose rapid bursts of plasma bolts into the Löwe's side. The high powered and super-heated energy bolts blasted through the turret ring with ease, melting armour and circuitry. But it wasn't enough to kill it. She supercharged her plasma gun and released a more powerful and highly volatile plasma blast, effectively destroying the Löwe's ammunitions rack.
A fiery and ear-shattering explosion boomed through the marshland, the shockwaves rippling trees, dirt and water in a mighty blast and crushed a handful of Ameise types. Without skipping a beat and recovering quickly, the guardsmen resumed their volley fire of vengeance and wrath.
Kaie cowered behind Mattias, hands clasping her ears as the deafening ring in her head still echoed painfully. She couldn't believe her eyes; ordinary men were putting up a tougher fight than her fellow processors in their Juggernauts. Sure, they had laser weapons and otherworldly weapons of death and destruction, but they were still humans, some even poorly equipped like those gas-mask wearing troopers in khaki trench coats that didn't even have any visible body armour.
As the smoke dissipated, the second Löwe revealed itself, its main cannon already trained on the line of guardsmen.
"Take cover!" Holmes shouted sternly.
Suddenly a bright and intense laser beam penetrated the Löwe's top turret armour, igniting its ammunitions rack and blowing it up into pieces. The Valkyrie swooped in and hovered over the Storm Chimera, firing a salvo of rockets into the remaining enemy wave, demolishing the drones in a spectacular show of Imperial Guard firepower.
It slowly made its landing, its two door gunners opened fire at the incoming wave, the roars of the heavy bolters deafening the aircraft's turbines. Its rear hatch door opened, and a crewman waited just outside, a bolt pistol in hand.
"Extract's here, move out!" The Kasrkins complied, Mattias carried Kaie in his arms and jogged towards their transport vehicle, "Watchmaster, I'm taking some of your men as well." Holmes ordered the Krieg sergeant, "And there's no room for discussion, that's an order,"
The Watchmaster seemed hesitant at first, wanting to counter but remained silent and reluctantly conceded. He nominated a handful of guardsmen to follow the Cadians before he shepherded the rest of his squad into the Chimera.
"Jenniah, get us back to base."
"Don't have to tell me twice, Holmes," The pilot replied with a side grin.
Both the Valkyrie and the Storm Chimera turned around and sped back to the Forward Operating Base, leaving behind the destroyed and mangled wrecks of the Legion's drones. In the distance, the on-going and ferocious battle of San Magnolia's Eastern Front echoed as the stranded forces of the Imperial Guard brought down the Emperor's hammer of fury and vengeance upon the Legion, crushing any hostility with extreme prejudice and zealotry.
Once more, on a distant planet, the flames of Humanity's valour burned bright.