The thick forest within which the Imperial Guard's 13th Cadian had found themselves was wide and expansive enough to hide most of the Regiment in case of Aerial Reconnaissance. Thankfully, it was also split by a network of multiple country roads that lead in all directions allowing for vehicles and troops to Rendezvous. And right now, the Regiment needed to know the right path toward what could possibly be friendly forces. They were on a planet unknown to them, with no intelligence to tell them where to go, who would be allied and who wouldn't.
From atop his Baneblade, the Hammer of Faith, an ancient vehicle given to him by Lord Creed himself during the Defense, Colonel Matias Telos watched his men and women being formed up by the Commissars. So far, most of the surviving regiment, around 5,000 souls, had reformed with the Command corps and the Armored Fighting Vehicles and tanks. As if in a marshalling yard, crew moved to their vehicles and, with a dozen Techpriests' help, maintained and looked over the vehicles...
Colonel Telos was young by every Imperial Guard commander's standard, and yet he was the oldest in the Regiment. Having turned 18 years old on the eve of the Battle for Cadia, the young man, promoted to lead his Regiment of what was formerly whiteshields, had buzz-cut sandy golden hair similar to many of the Cadians you'd see written about, as well as a pair of deep blue eyes that were courtesy of his second line of heritage, that of a Kriegsman... He was half Cadian and Half Krieg by blood, with his mother having been a soldier in the Death Korps' 314th Heavy Infantry... He knew all too well the losses sustained by them...
His father was a factory worker that had achieved the rank of Lieutenant during the Lorn V Campaign under General Sturnn... Matias knew his family's pedigree too well. From heroes of the 12th Black Crusade, to unnamed soldiers that fought on Vraks, to combined units who fought on Armaggedon and finally, to his two beloved parents, both of which he lacked the memories of. Blurry remnants from almost eight years ago were all that remained of the two...
Marching on-deck with the last Chimeras, his Kasrkin complement, of around 100 men and women, had finally come through. Happily walking toward him, a helmet off her head to reveal jet-black hair and deep teal eyes, the Major leading the Kasrkin group, going by the name of Amanda MkVenner or simply Amy to most, himself included, slung her Hellgun on her back and stopped in front of the Baneblade, bringing up a hand to her forehead and saying "Major MkVenner, Kasrkin Battalion, at your service, sir. The Emperor Protects." with a strong accent common to Cadians, but with slips of Tanith between it.
Matias saluted back and said calmly "Welcome home, Major. The Emperor Protects, indeed... Safe trip?"
"Could'a been less bumpy, sir. But aye." The girl answered calmly, grin withstanding. She looked over to her right, to see the Commissar Major and his unit of company, Platoon and squad-based Commissars walking toward them. The boy himself was also quickly promoted in the face of the 13th Black Crusade... Coal-black eyes and even blacker hair complimented the face of a teenage boy at barely 17 years, much like Amy... The Kasrkin's grin widened and said "Colin! Ya live!"
The Commissar's sharp gaze turned to meet the Kasrkin as he spoke "Indeed." tipping his hat to her "Good to see you yet live too, Major."
"Aw, come on! Don't be so damn cold." Amy sighed. She looked to the Colonel, who seemed to hold a grin, then said "Y'see, sir, this is the kinda thing I hafta deal with."
"Me being an officer... Quaint." The Commissar quipped. He looked up at the Colonel and said "Vox reports a column of Civilian vehicles, Scout Unit Six and a friendly tank are en-route to our position, sir. Lieutenant Elaine was kind enough to have a talk with some locals and provide us a location to head to:The Capital City of the Nation State we find ourselves in..."
"Undiscovered planet, then..." The Colonel rubbed his chin. "Very well then. Thank you for the update, Commissar. Gather the men and women. Prepare our vehicles. And compile me a list of all available assets so I know what we're working with."
"Sir." The Major saluted. "The Emperor Protects."
"The Emperor Protects, Major. Dismissed." Matias said, before jumping off the vehicle and looking to Amy. He motioned to her to provide escort while they went toward the road. Watching as Sentinels first emerged from the curb, followed by a bunch of civilian trucks, cars and even horse-drawn carriages. At the front, beside the Sentinels, was also a tank with a deep-blue camouflage pattern, an 88mm Cannon and medium armor... Riding atop it was Scout Unit Six and a man with platinum hair and civilian clothing. Elaine gave a wave from aboard the Vehicle to the Colonel.
"Huh. Weird lil' tank." Amy commented, grinning.
The Colonel hummed in agreement. As the convoy made it to the clearing, the Civilians' eyes went wider than they were. The Sentinels halted and the Convoy stopped in its tracks as well... And the young Colonel waved his Medicae Corps forward. He stopped the Corps' leader and said "Make sure every Civilian is tended to and watch our MRE supplies. We're not here to cause a ruckus. Instead, to show them we're friendly."
"Sir." The Corpsman nodded, before stepping off to aid in unloading wounded Civilians and triaging them. And from aboard the blue tank that had just parked in beside the Sentinels, the blonde boy jumped out and walked to the Colonel. A gaze filled with shock swept the surrounding area... And as if Welkin Gunther hadn't seen Scout Unit Six, he saw the Cadian Kids and stumbled... Following him, Alicia and a dark-blue-haired girl with a shoal and green dress appeared from the tank, surprise just as evident...
The Colonel walked to meet Welkin midway. The two stopped in front of each-other and the tank boy noticed that, despite an age difference, the Cadian soldier was about as tall as him, but with a more toned body, probably from the days of combat. The sandy-haired boy nodded to Welkin and said "Greetings. I'm Colonel Telos, of the Cadian 13th Imperial Guard Regiment."
"... Imperial...?" Welkin's brow quirked up as his heart skipped a beat "You guys aren't from the East Empire, are you?"
"... No? We're from the Imperium of Man..." The boy hummed... A False Empire, perhaps... "Are these East Imperials soldiers clad in steel plate armor?"
"Yeah... Knights almost." Welkin spoke, dumbfound. "Not like you."
"Then we aren't of the same False Empire as them." The Colonel shook his head, but Welkin noticed faint body motions. "What's your name?"
"I'm Welkin Gunther... A pleasure, Colonel." He gave a nod "And... Can I say, without offending you... It feels weird to call a boy that's definitely younger than me a Colonel?"
The Cadian snorted "Not at all, mr. Gunther. I'm still getting used to the position myself... Though I am the oldest in my Regiment... Come along, we've much to discuss." And he waved the man forward. As the group walked toward where the Civilians were being tended to, Welkin craned his head to the right... And the more he saw of this Regiment, the more awed he was. At least three battalions' worth of troopers were being aligned and readied to move by what seemed to be officers wearing peaked caps and very definitively visible longcoats and uniforms.
Following behind those battalions were the men and women tending to what looked like APCs that were about the size of their own tank and three lines of 132mm Self-Propelled Artillery Pieces, their barrels raised at an angle like a forest of crooked trees. To the side of that were a dozen of the Sentinel Walkers lined neatly, with a few more behind them and finally, finishing up the roundabout, multiple tanks with the same chassis but different gun types lined the left... With one massive super-tank in the center, with 11 gun barrels sticking out of it... God above, what were these kids?
Isara, the stepsister of Welkin, stepped up beside her brother, eyes wide too, but instead of a fearful gaze, she smiled in awe at the technology around her. The Colonel stopped in front of the Civilians and Medicae and one of the soldiers bearing the red symbol of the Medics on his arm plates saluted and said "Sir! All Civilians accounted for, sir! No major wounds or injuries, just bumps and scratches. They should be good to move."
"Return them to their vehicles, then, Medicae. And keep them safe until we too can begin our travel toward the Capital." Matias spoke calmly, giving a nod. The soldier nodded back and turned to the people, allowing Matt to look over to Welkin again and say "I wish not to intrude, but from what I understood via Vox com, these... False Imperials... Your people fight have fired on civilians?"
"Yeah... A family died in front of me and Alicia, actually." Welkin sighed.
"Well... Just let them keep giving the Guard reason to engage them." The Colonel said, then his gaze shifted to the deep, dark-blue eyes of the girl beside him and he froze for a moment. The girl, too, stopped, blushing a bit. The Colonel smiled and gave her a simple nod, before clearing his throat and continuing "Mister Gunther, I do wish to ask you one thing:guide us to your capital. If your people fight these Eastern Pretenders, then maybe we can forge an alliance and drive them out of your homeland..."
"You'd... Do that?" Welkin seemed surprised.
"Of course... They shot at my men and murdered Civilians as they went, mr. Gunther. Human civilians. I don't think I or my men will stand for that." The Colonel gave a nod... Welkin found himself more and more surprised by the spry young man's wit. And the fact that, as a Colonel, he could maintain this joker attitude. He sighed, then gave a nod, before saying "We'll take lead of the Convoy... Just keep your vehicles close by, okay?"
"Certainly... Now, excuse me, I must address the men." The Colonel gave a nod, before turning to Isara and smiling again. This time, he received a smile back. He looked to the approaching Commissar Major, who saluted again. Matt saluted as well.
"The troops are lined up and are awaiting for you to address them, Colonel." The soldier gave a respectful nod to his friend.
Matt, with all due haste, stepped off toward his supertank, climbing on top of the 11-gun monstrosity. He turned to all of the soldiers around and spoke, cuing into the Vox bead and linking with the vehicles' Vox as well... Straightening up, a grin on his face, the trooper spoke "Sons and Daughters of Cadia! A decree has been made that reverberated through the wretched Warp today! One that the bastard sons of Chaos shall learn to fear! As He on Holy Terra has decreed:WE STAND!"
The Guardsmen slammed fists into their armors' chests thrice, cheering aloud "URAH! URAH! URAH!" in synchronization to the thumping.
"The God Emperor has allowed our safe passage through the vile dimension that houses the False Gods of Chaos and their legions of damnable daemons! He has looked upon our Regiment, witnessed our fight and knew very well we would die before we gave up an inch of His Hallowed Ground, of our own Home, to the monsters and traitors that dared step foot onto it!" The boy continued, his voice strong, hard, his resolve of Steel... And the Cheers of his men and women emboldened him...
"And as the planet cracked under our feet, as our Home broke below us and the hordes of Eternal Damnation marched toward us, WE STOOD OUR GROUND! And within the final moments of our home planet, we would've gladly given our own lives in her defense. That is what we did..." He seemed to slow down a bit, looking at his men and women... And Welkin noticed too, some seemed to be tightening grips on their weapons... Matias sighed, continuing "BUT THE EMPEROR CHOSE FOR US ANOTHER PATH! HE HAS ALLOWED US ANOTHER CHANCE AT LIFE! And... Another War to prove ourselves in!"
"URAH!" The Cadians cried in synch again...
The boy started pacing back and forth, looking at his troops, his hands behind his back "It appears as though the small feudal Nation-State we find ourselves in is facing Pretenders to the Emperor's Throne! Traitors! FALSE IMPERIALS!" And, hearing roars of disapproval from his men, relating to their new foe, the Colonel of the Guard continued "They attacked our men! They shot at one of our scout units! They murdered Civilians in a Village not too far from here! These vile degenerates are not here to talk peace with us! They are not here to unify the planet! They are a plague to the free peoples of this planet! One the Emperor must've sent us to deal with!"
Yet again... Another cheer...
"And, as I stand here today, I decree myself, as we have done before, that if the need arises and the people of this nation and planet accept the Imperial Truth and our Alliance, CADIAN BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED TO DEFEND THEM!" He drew his Power Sword and raised it to the sky, to the ever-louder cheers of his soldiers. He continued proudly "BE IT A LEGION, A WARBAND, DAEMONS OR THIS FALSE EASTERN EMPIRE, WE SHALL SHOW THEM ALL THE REASON THE PLANET BROKE BEFORE THE GUARD!"
And the Cheers became loud enough to deafen the thunder of their vehicles' engines. Soldiers raised their rifles, cried their rallying cries and smiled. Welkin had to take a moment to process what Matias had been saying. The Colonel waved to the Commissars and spoke through Vox "Get to your vehicles and prepare to move! We join the Convoy and head for the capital!"
To the order, the soldiers marched off toward their armored vehicles. The Colonel looked to Welkin, Isara and Alicia and gave them a salute, then boarded his the Super-Tank himself. Welkin looked to the two girls and said "Well... I guess we should start leading the Convoy then..."
"I'm going to be 100 percent honest... These kids scare me..." Alicia said as they started walking toward where the civilian vehicles were.
"They do not seem to be kids my age as much as actual Soldiers..." Isara mused, then heard the rumble of engines and saw that the Supertank moved first, its treads grinding against the dirt as it advanced toward the Convoy. Following it were several heavy tanks, the artillery pieces, transport vehicles and even the Sentinel Walkers. It was an awe-inspiring sight to behold... The trio turned to their tank and boarded it too, before taking lead of the Convoy...
Aboard the Hammer of Faith, Colonel Telos looked over the list that Colin had given him...
CADIAN FIRST YOUTH
Roster
ACTIVE DUTY-5,000 GUARDSMEN
COMMAND BATTALION-Reduced to reinforce other Battalions
Singular Baneblade, Cadian Pattern-Command Vehicle
5 Leman Russ Annihilator escorts
Chimera Command Vehicle
1 Macharius Vulcan-Pattern tank
500 Guardsmen including Colonel and the 4 Majors, as well as the Magos.
ARMORED BATTALION-Multiple vehicles salvaged from Cadian Battlefield and repurposed during final days as Battalion Reinforcements
13 Leman Russ Basic Battle Tanks, varying Sponson load-outs
17 Vanquishers
5 Executioners
5 Thunderer Siege Tanks
10 Incinerator Leman Russ Tanks
10 Punisher Leman Russ Tanks
1 Eradicator
9 Destroyer Tank Hunters
ARTILLERY BATTALION-Severely depleted after Cadia.
20 Basilisk Self-Propelled Artillery Pieces
Varying Mortar Carriers-10
10 Multi-Launch Rocket Systems, "The Imperial Organ"
10 Munitions Transport Vehicles
Ammunition-Approximately 60 days' worth
ENGINSEER BATTALION-Reinforcements provided by Adeptus Mechanicus
50 Martian Techpriests
100 Servitors
10 Combat Servitors
10 Skitarii Honor Guard
30 Enginseer Adepts
100 Non-Mechanicum Combat Engineers
5 Trojan Support Vehicles
MECHANIZED INFANTRY BATTALION
50 Chimera Transports, Varying loadouts
10 Gorgon Heavy Transports
SCOUT BATTALION
30 Scout Vehicles
30 Mobility Vehicles
500 Soldiers.
-END-
AN:Here comes the fun parts, bois'n'gals.