Standing at the top of a tall hill and with a clear view in all directions, an encampment that was a mishmash of instacrete, wood and wiring for its defenses, the newly-built and minted Cadian Fort, known to its inhabitants as Kasr Creed, in honor of their late Lord Castellan, watched carefully over the crossroads between the town of Amaranthine, the Gallian fort of same name not too far away from them and the Capital. The wooden palisades, erected hurriedly as a simple defense perimeter, were occupied by Cadian Marksmen. Below them, in the second and third lines of defense, formed of trenches and bunkers, were Cadian Heavy Weapon teams and some of the youngest recruits, providing a good defensive perimeter.
In the bunkers, the Heavy Bolters and Auto-Cannons of the Weapons Teams maintained interlocking arcs of fire. And at least a Lieutenant was present at the front, with a Sergeant and their subordinates, in each bunker. Inside, instacrete structures, bunkers and walled-in barracks resided, stretching almost a kilometer deep into the ground, with an Adeptus Mechanicus Manufactorum situated in the far rear of the base.
The base was still under expansion and construction, with the next things to follow being the underground hangars for the base, but the Techpriests were running low on the supplies necessary to build such items. Instacrete was not going to be hard to find, but re-bars, wiring and other such necessities lacked the basic materials to be mass-built. Thusly, the Techpriests found it hard to focus on one thing...
Five days passed since the Cadians had assisted in retaking the city of Vasel. A company of Cadians had received orders from the Colonel to mount up after Jonah, the Darcsen engineer from the city, had come to report a letter from one of his brothers. A Darcsen village near the Diebal Mountain Range was under attack. So, the squads boarded the Chimera IFVs, Las Guns at the ready. And once again, Elaine was out with her platoon on Darcsen Rescue Duty.
She felt the vehicles bounce as they trundled down the unpaved road, watching her squad in the dim red light of the transport's hold. 100 Cadians moved to help a village of around 4,000. This was gonna be a long way away. So she arranged herself to sleep comfortably for the time being. Some of the kids interacted, exchanging small-talk, eating rations or just downright singing... Elaine felt that they needed to remember they were still on a mission, but she squelched any thought of talking them out of having fun... They were all still teens and kids.
The trip had taken four hours. And they were right on the Front Line between the Gallians and Imperials. The roar of artillery echoed in the distance with the chatter of machine gun fire just hints closer. The Southern Sector of Gallia saw less combat between the Rank and File, but here was also where the Regular Army seemed perched and stuck in an endless artillery battle with the False Imps...
The convoy of Chimeras ground to a halt in the midst of a Gallian Army Base. The Infantry exited the vehicles, their boots crunching the snow below. Elaine looked on, awed, at the place that was covered by snow in the middle of Spring. She looked from the snow, then ordered calmly "All units, fall in..." as she saw a Gallian Regular approach. She watched the officer scowl...
"So, you're the reinforcements we requested for?" He hummed.
"Actually, we're-" Elaine started.
"I don't care. Come and prepare your men. We attack the moment the Imperials enter the Darcsen villages." The Regular almost ordered... "You'll be the first ones in afterward."
Elaine took a moment to process that little stub of information handed to her piecemeal by the Officer. From demeanor alone, Elaine understood the man had two intentions:Throwing their lives away in combat, something which no Cadian General would do to their own men, and, of course, letting the Darcsen fall prey to the False Imperials... She hummed, then said "We operate alone." Sternly, walking past the man.
"What?!" He balked, glaring at the Lieutenant.
She looked back to her men, ignoring him, then ordered "Get the Chimeras in a defensive line alongside the settlements. I want a platoon of 20 to be preoccupied with immediate evacuation of all civilians to a safe distance. We will engage the False Imperials head-first. The Colonel promised he'll send a second squadron with a Russ Punisher as soon as they can rearm it." and drew her Las Gun. The Guardsmen saluted and tallied off to work.
The man walked up to Elaine, grabbing her by the collar, but before he could bellow out orders, the Cadian woman grabbed him by the wrist, pulled it off her collar and kneecapped the bastard in the gut hard enough to make him spill his guts. He collapsed to the floor, coughing spittle and some blood out onto the white snow. The Lieutenant knelt beside him, then whispered "We are the Guard. We take orders only from our own and Him on Holy Terra... Not some lowly Royal brat who earned their rank by nepotism."
She watched a pair of Gallians come toward her, pistols drawn, but she simply glared at them and they took steps back, eyes wide. A child stared down grown men with murderous intent. She grabbed the man by the hairs, pulling him back to his feet, before telling him "Stand up, Officer. You're disgracing that uniform further by wearing it... The Gallian units will support us as we defend. Am I understood?"
"W-Wha-?!" Before he could finish, she spun him around, her fingers wrapping around his throat as she lifted him off the ground, in a terrible display of Cadian strength. She scowled, then spoke with a guttural roar "Your men are serving as our Rearguard! ONE of them falls back and I will have one of my Chimeras RUN HIM OVER! AND YOU WITH HIM!" and she tossed him back into the snow. "The Emperor Protects, Gallian... Let us pray he has eyes on you as well, if you fuck with me."
And with that, she stepped off to join the forward line. Down in the small line of settlements that now formed a commune, the Darcsen watched with bugged eyes as the Cadian forces marched inside. Women, youngsters and some of the elders hid. The Cadians looked at the little houses that served as the Darcsens' homes and found themselves at a loss for words. Damaged, chipping and probably about to keel over and break apart. The houses were probably from the first generation of Darcsens brought in...
For what, she could only speculate.
An Elder, a grizzled-looking old man, approached the Lieutenant. He walked with the aid of a cane and his dark-blue hair started to fade into grey... Elaine extended her hand and said "I'm Lieutenant Elaine Maaran. We're here by request of a member of one of the families living here to provide defense." calmly. The Elder shook it... But he seemed surprised. Elaine raised a brow "Something the matter?"
"It's... Just... We aren't used to people being here to defend us... Even the Gallians at the top of the hill are using us as bait for the Hunters..." The man admitted, staring at Elaine.
"Is this because of that idiocy known to many as the legend of the Darcsen Calamity?" She inquired, leaning her rifle on her shoulder... The man nodded again, eyes going to the snowy floor. Elaine hummed, then shook her head and stepped up in the middle of the village. She called out "To all of the Darcsen here! Fear not! We are unlike those of your world! We are here to protect you, from both the False Imperials, the ignorant Gallians and the damnable Heretical religion that caused such a downpour of unfounded hatred onto your kin for so many years! We promise you, we will keep you safe."
She saw a kid appear from behind a pillar. His mom was right behind him... But no father. 'Hunters'. She assumed said 'Hunters' took Darcsens for slave labor, so that would explain that... She looked around, then said "Sixth squad, care for the Civilians and prep evacuation..." before going up to the front line... She didn't talk to the Elders any more, opting instead to let them prepare for evacuation...
But she paused as she saw a group of women approach her. Probably those left without husbands... One had a Hunting Shotgun. Another, a pickaxe. The others had an assortment of tools and hunting weapons and they donned steel plating as armor. The leader of the group approached Elaine and brought a hand up in salute. Elaine saluted back... And the woman spoke "Corporal Jacqueline, Diebal First Irregulars, at your service, ma'am... This is our home... And these bastards took our loved ones and our sons are too young to fight... We will not abandon this place, no matter who pressures us."
"At ease, Corporal..." Elaine murmured, turning toward her. "You're irregulars. Who taught you how to fight?"
"Universal Gallian Conscription, ma'am." Jacqueline returned. "We learned how to fight for our home..."
Fair... "What if I tell you you will evacuate?"
"We'll say hell no, ma'am... The Darcsen have a peaceful 'no retaliation' idea in their minds since that damn Darcsen Calamity thing. Whether it's a lie or not, I don't care... I'm not gonna sit idly by while the Imps take my family away to their damn Work camps in whatever forsaken part of their Empire... And doubly so if people like you exist, who actually seem to give a damn about us." She added calmly, her sunken, dark-blue eyes staring into Elaine's. "You do care about us, right? This isn't just some political stunt or other? Because if you wanna make friends with our government, this is really no way to do it..."
"Meh, to hell with'em." Elaine waved it off. "And yes... You are a people oppressed because of a false Religion spread by False Gods... In the eyes of the God-Emperor's servants, such Heresy will not stand. And with us here, this Religion will burn."
The woman stared, surprised.
And as she did, Elaine ordered forth a squadron of scouts, to find the enemy's encampment, which was probably across the border. Elaine turned to her again and said "Well, Corporal... If you and your comrades want to fight, you will do as I order. I want you and this little squad to help in the center of town. I've ordered some of my men to take a set of automated turrets built by our Enginseers to provide us defenses. Those there will hand you IFF tags, so that our own guns do not engage you."
Jacqueline looked in awe to the Lieutenant, who gave a her a confident half-smile, before turning back to aligning the defenses.
... Later in the evening, reports had come from the scouts that the Enemy was mobilizing. Thankfully, Elaine's forces had been able to set up a set of Trenches with Machine Gun nests and even a pair of Rapid-Firing Lascannons to halt any possible armor the enemy was coming in, of which they were... Three Halftracks and one heavy tank, presumably more armored than its compatriots.
"It's a good day to die, eh, ma'am?" Asked one of the soldiers manning the Lascannons. A grin crossed Elaine's lips.
"That it is." The woman returned, readying her pistol... The roar of engines and the thunder of footsteps against frozen dirt echoed. She raised a hand and raised her index and middle fingers... All lights died within the town. Nothing moved... Everything was as dead quiet as the freezing, settling night. The woman drew her Las Pistol with her right hand, holding a Rosarium with her left and whispering a Prayer...
As the first of the Imperial Tanks emerged, spotlights turned on, Elaine looked to the Darcsen women of the Irregular Corps and nodded to them, showing them to wait... A lone silhouette against the backdrop of broken housing, Elaine was the first to be lit by the spotlights of the Enemy AFVs... A lone woman, with a pistol and an Imperial Rosarium, stood face-to-face with almost six dozen False Imperials armed to the teeth...
She grinned as she watched the False Imperial commander confusedly look at her...
Her grin remained present... She cried out "Came to surrender, False Ones!?"
Two False Imps laughed... The Commander did too.
"I hope you're kidding, girl! You're alone! Surrender and we promise we'll be gentle!" He spoke through the laughter. Electric engines whirred to life atop the buildings and within piles of snow... Green lasers painted a target onto the man's chest...
The woman chuckled... Then cried aloud "CADIANS! GLORIA FORTIS MILES!"
Many a dozen lasguns powered. The lights on their batteries flickered to life and the scopes lit up... A line of Trenches, filled to the brim with Imperial Guardsmen baring their teeth and bayonets. Elaine tilted her head, then said "Am I alone then, Traitor?" before aiming her Las Pistol... She nodded... And the Lascannon she stayed beside, one without the metal plating covering its gunner, threw snow up as its powered shot struck the enemy tank dead center, vaporizing the gunner of the Mortar cannon, the legs of the Commander and the driver, before detonating the tank's fuel supply.
"FIRE AT WILL!" Elaine cried "PURGE THE HERETICS!"
She claimed her first kill with her pistol, a False Imperial officer wearing scarlet armor. The wave of Las-fire washed over the other False Imperials, forcing the exposed troopers to either retreat or start charging... The rumble of automated guns and the crack of melee weapons hitting bone came from the left as the Irregular girls engaged, pickaxes breaking helmets, caving skulls, Hunting Shotguns and Rifles snapping round after round.
An Imperial Shock Trooper raised his SMG and opened fire... One of the Darcsen women caught a round in the chest, but another was quick to take her place, firing thrice into the man's chest with her rusty rifle. The Lascannons claimed a Half-Track, vivisecting the lightly-armored transport vehicle from engine bay to rear door. Whoever was inside and didn't deploy got cut in half...
Autocannons from the Chimera transports roared as the vehicles trundled forth slowly, their pintle-mounted Heavy Stubbers joining in on the onslaught. Jacqueline joined Elaine at the front, firing from her bolt-action hunting rifle. The two women nodded to each-other, with Elaine continuing her prayer to Saint Pius and the Emperor as she emptied her Las Pistol's battery into the horde of mewling enemies...
A round bounced off her armor, from a sniper... Another scraped her thigh, but even though she staggered, the woman kept on walking, with Jackie just to her left... The woman turned back, then yelled to her soldiers in the trenches "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, MY BRETHREN?! CHARGE! CHARGE THIS MEWLING BAND OF SO-CALLED 'HUNTERS' AND SHOW THEM WHAT TRUE STRENGTH IS!"
The Cadians roared a raucous battle cry, jumping from their trenches and engaging in Marching Fire... The retreating False Imperials began to flee in a disorganized route... And one of the two remaining Halftracks, one with a 20mm cannon in a turret, opened fire. Some Guardsmen fell, others got wounded, but all just continued to advance... A Las-Cannon blew the inside out of the 20mm Halftrack with a single shot... Elaine continued, another round pinging her shoulder armor, nearly going through "LOOK AT THEM! SO USED TO HUNTING THOSE UNABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORGOT WHAT A TRUE FOE IS LIKE!"
To the cheers of Cadians... And even some Darcsen Irregulars, she kicked a man that was already on the floor in the head, before finishing him off with one Las-Pistol shot and further ranting "COWARDS, THE LOT OF THEM!" as she reloaded her Las Pistol. She turned to Jackie, who seemed to stare in surprise, before adding "THE PEOPLE WE DEFEND ARE THE TRUE COURAGEOUS ONES! LOOK AT THE WOMAN BESIDE ME, YOU FALSE IMPERIAL DOGS, AND WEEP WHEN YOU SEE HER COMING TOWARD YOU WITH UNTAMED FURY IN HER EYES! LOOK AT THE DARCSEN STILL HERE, STANDING AGAINST YOU AND PRAY TO YOUR FALSE GODS FOR MERCY! FOR THE GUARD AND THESE FREE MEN AND WOMEN WILL HAVE NONE!"
"AVE IMPERATOR!" The Guard cheered... And the Darcsen Irregulars echoed it, more silently.
"TO HELL WITH THEIR RELIGION!" She cried again, another round scratching the right side of her neck, but not causing major damage. She fired her Pistol at a Sniper, sending the soldier tumbling to the floor. "TO HELL WITH THEIR SO-CALLED GODS! THERE IS ONLY ONE TO RULE THEM ALL! THE EMPEROR BLESSED US TO FIGHT AGAIN HERE, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! WASTE NOT THE OPPORTUNITY AND SHOW HIM HE SPARED US RIGHTLY!"
"AND TO THE DARCSENS, STAND FAST!" She yelled, punching another main in the face as he emerged from a hastily-dug foxhole with a knife in hand. She kicked him back down into the hole and fired twice into the man's head, before addressing the Darcsens again "YOU ARE A FREE PEOPLE! LOSE YOUR CHAINS AND FIGHT, FOR IF YOU DO, YOU ARE TO US AS WE ARE TO EACH-OTHER! BONDED TOGETHER UNDER THE LIGHT OF HIM ON TERRA!"
"AVE IMPERATOR!" The Cadians cried again and the Darcsens echoed it, louder... Jackie included as she racked the bolt of her rifle, firing once more into the crowd of fleeing Darcsen Hunters, hatred and pride burning in her eyes.
"Into the Fires of Hell, girls!" Jackie declared to her Darcsen Compatriots "SEND THESE FALSE BASTARDS INTO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL!"
"AVE IMPERATOR!" The girls returned, with the Cadians echoing it this time.
Jackie gave a tap on Elaine's armored shoulder, then said "Thank you..." with a smile. "For giving us hope again."
Elaine nodded. She felt a round ping her helmet, but she was lucky it was a ricochet... Taking the damn thing off as her ears were ringing, she glared at the Sniper who fired at her... She wanted to take the shot, but Jackie was first to fire a round, killing the bastard with a direct headshot. The last halftrack exploded in the far distance as Elaine, Jackie and their combined force advanced... The woman cued her mic, then said "Tell your artillery battalion to fire on the Imps, Gallian..."
The Darcsen lowered her rifle as she saw the Imperials running and Elaine raising her hand to stop her own platoon... The two girls nodded to each-other, both smiling... Until the whistle of artillery came from overhead... Jackie gasped, then slammed into Elaine, shoving her out of the way... A single shell blasted the position that Jackie was in... The girl landed in the snow five feet away, broken... Elaine gasped, her eyes wide, before running to Jackie's side and calling out "MEDICAE! MEDICAE!" as she posted herself beside the Darcsen woman...
... Not good. Multiple entry holes, shrapnel... Her legs were blasted to hell.
"You'll be fine..." Elaine lied, taking the woman's hand into her own...
Jackie chuckled, then coughed blood. "Yeah... As if..." giving Elaine a toothy, blood-soaked grin... "Hey... Elaine, right?"
"Mhm..." The woman said as the Medicae came in with a First Aid kit...
Jackie turned paler and paler by the second, but her grin withstood... With tears now falling onto the bloody snow. "I know we haven't known each-other for... That long... Barely a day and all, but..." she coughed again as her fellow comrades from the Irregular Corps joined her. "Could you do me a couple of favors?" She asked, raising her left hand and going for one of her pockets... Elaine simply gave a nod... She was handed two things... A toy made of tin and a bloody photo of a man and woman at a wedding... Oh, no...
"Could... You give the toy to my son? And... The photo to my husband?" The woman weakly asked, her voice cracking.
"You'll give these to them yourself..." Elaine comforted her. "Just save your strength..."
"I won't make it to the next hospital, Elaine... And they're in Fouzen... In an Imperial Concentration Camp, last I heard of them..." Jackie swallowed her own blood... "Please... I promise I'll pay back these favors in the afterlife..."
Elaine bit her upper lip... Her mouth felt dry... She sighed, then nodded, taking the toy and photo into her hand... She slid them in her pocket... Jackie started to go limp. Her eyes slowly closed and slowly, her pulse faded... Until it wasn't there anymore. Elaine sighed, placing Jackie's hands together in an Aquila shape, before placing her Rosarius into the woman's hands and praying for her safe passage...
She looked up at the Regular-held Hilltop position and pressed her lips together... That bastard did this on purpose... She looked over to Jackie's side and saw an old, rickety pistol... Grabbing it from the holster, the woman stood up and marched toward the hill. No Cadian or Darcsen stopped her... A squad of Cadians even joined up with her. The woman wore a glare that could kill tanks... Climbing up the hill, to the sight of the commander... The man had once had a smug grin before Elaine showed up... Now it all but vanished...
"L-Lieutenant, you're ali-" The man started... But before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang echoed across the valleys... With a hole drilled right between his eyes by the .45 ACP bullet of Jackie's pistol, the Gallian Regular officer collapsed onto the hardened mud. The barrel of the Gallian sidearm still smoldered. The woman swallowed spittle, then spoke, with a tone going from soft angry to absolutely butt-fuck pissed in the span of 3 seconds "... If any of you Gallian Regulars report this to your superiors, I will personally make sure your entire REGIMENT IS PUT TO THE SWORD FOR ENDANGERING AN ALLIED UNIT!"
"AM I CLEAR, YOU MONGRELS?!" She bellowed... And every Gallian Regular, still bug-eyed and unable to raise their rifles, nodded. The woman huffed, slinging the pistol into the back of her pants, before saying "Good... Good..." And walking away, toward the Chimeras. The Cadian escort to the Lieutenant, her own squad, joined her in walking back down... A burial service was done for Jacqueline in her home town... And the Irregulars had volunteered to join them on the way back to Fort Amaranthine. To join the Militia, perhaps...
Elaine would need to talk to the Colonel about a possible Corps made up of Darcsens...
Could help stifle inevitable losses and... Could aid in receiving reinforcement...