The 21 vehicles of the Imperial Guard, a series of 3 Basilisks, ten Leman Russes and 7 Chimeras led the convoy of almost 100 Allied vehicles, with the Baneblade of the Colonel at the forefron. Amy and her Kasrkin were, however, hanging off the side of the Superheavy, Hellguns and heavy weapons trained on the surrounding forest. Alicia, meanwhile, sat aboard one of the standard Gallian halftracks, checking her own weapon.
"... So anyways, these Cadian kids seem cool." Edy explained to the blonde-haired boy, Homer Peron. She continued "Wonder if they'll like to hear me sing some day."
Rosie snorted. Edy glared at her. All was normal. Alicia smiled as she slid a new clip of ammunition into her rifle, before she set it aside and stretched. The wind rustled the leafs around them, mingling with the sound of the engines of Cadian Vehicles. A bird landed on top of the Halftrack's side and Alicia looked up at the colorful creature, holding the smile... And then it left, chirping as if in warning.
Marina hummed, her eyes trained directly at their left. She stood up, with her rifle in hand, leaned forward and looked through the scope. Rosie spoke "What's wrong, hotshot?" staring up at the deadly assassin... Marina went bug-eyed, crying out "INCOMING!" as she let out a shot from her rifle. An anti-tank rocket screamed overhead, forcing the sniper to duck into cover just before it struck a tree behind them.
"OUT! OUT! OUT!" Alicia cried to her comrades, grabbing her rifle jumping over the side of the Halftrack and diving into a ditch on the side of the dirt road. A Gallian carrying a wireless on his back joined with them in the ditch and Alicia was quick to grab the transmitter and yell "AMBUSH! We got enemy AT units firing at us from the north!" and racking the bolt of her rifle.
Marina scoped in another target. Her aim once again sent an enemy to the cold dirt below. Two Cadians dropped into cover too. One of them was that orange-haired girl Isara had told Alicia about... The girl mounted the standard Kasrkin Hellgun onto the side of the hill, before eyeing down the scope. Her eyes were steely, her gaze unflinching and for such a cute and happy girl, she had turned serious rather quick. Her Hellgun whirred to life, before hissing as the first burst of energy weapon fire lanced forth, glancing a tree trunk and burning through an Imperial infantryman.
Nat, the smaller pink-haired soldier, was quick to join the other one, raising her own Carbine and opening fire. She held a contemptuous grin as she let loose her Lasgun's burning hellfire. A beam cut down an Imp before he even got to step out of the bushes. Soon, the False Imps closed distance and small-arms fire could be heard. The roar of a main Leman Russ cannon later and a chunk of forest, as well as a False Imp rocket team, disappeared.
Alicia raised her own rifle, finally able to see the enemy, before she opened fire. Two shots left the barrel and both struck an Imp. One pierced through the cuirass with a sick crunch that sent the Imp on the floor, dead. She looked to Homer as he was distributing more ammo, then said "I've got enough, Homer! Go to whoever else needs it!" and she got a nod from the kid. He kept his head down, advancing with the ammo box...
The woman watched Yuri come out of a Cadian Chimera, ducking into cover just as a rocket struck and destroyed a Chimera. The Gallian Sergeant flinched, watching the burning vehicle being ditched by its crew. A second Chimera in front of it turned after deploying all of its troops and pushed the vic into an empty part of the irrigation ditch, before turning its Autocannon to greet the enemy...
"First mission in and we get ambushed..." Yuri murmured, drawing her sword and a 9mm Handgun she had on hand.
Nat giggled, then said "Welcome to the baptism by fire, gal!" As she head-shotted two Imp soldiers
Yuri nodded "Happy to be here..." before standing up and pulling out three of her throwing knives. With precision and grace, the teenager threw one knife, only to strike an Imp just above the cuirass, in the unarmored throat, sending him to the floor. A second knife entered the knee of another, when Yuri finished him with a handgun headshot and the third knife spun through the air, nailing a third Imperial right between the eyes. Yuri then raised the pistol again and fired two more shots, jumping into cover with the girls seconds after.
Nat grinned "Not bad, not bad."
Monyka dove into cover with them too, looking toward Yuri. She acknowledged their new comrades' act with a smile and a nod, before looking past her... Marina dashed into position next to them and fired a snap-shot that detonated an Imperial's AT Grenade in his hand, engulfing both him and two Shock Troopers beside him in a nasty explosion. She then aimed and shot at a rocket team. The launcher's muzzle dipped, its operator with a bullet in the left eye socket collapsing. His fingers twitched and the rocket in the long tube launched, embedding itself in the ground and exploding.
The woman then pulled a fresh three-round stripper clip from her pouch, racking the bolt back and loading the rifle, before she fed the first round of AP into the chamber. She shouldered the weapon again and another False Imp, this one an officer in red armor, spun as he fell to the ground. Marina then stood up from her position, before surging forth just as a Counter-Sniper tried to take her head clean off.
The female sniper skidded to a halt just above the four girls, all of whom stared with wide eyes at the Gallian. She shot once and the False Imp Sniper fell dead where he stood. She looked toward the girls, then nodded, before stepping off, all under their watchful gazes. Nat pursed her lips, then said "Okay... Gallians can actually fight decently..."
"Ya kidding?" Saoirse smiled "She was awesome!"
"Very good shot. Half thought she was a Vindicare for a moment." Monyka noted.
"That's Marina Wulfstan." Yuri noted, eyes wide. "I read books about her father and his actions during the First Europan War... She's every bit like her father..."
"The Wolf shows her Fangs, as the saying goes." Monyka noted, before looking overhead. Two squads of Cadian Kasrkin made it into the enemy's side of the forest. She nodded to her team, then said "Okay, everyone! Looks like it's time to counterattack!" with her usual trademark smile. She stood up as her eyes glimmered with emerald psychic energy.
"Alright!" Nat grinned, fixing a bayonet as she stood to her feet. She then leaned toward Yuri, extending a hand to the newly-acquired member of the team. Yuri took it and found herself pulled to her feet by the surprisingly strong young Cadian. With a fist bump in Yuri's chest, Nat said "I got your back if you got mine, New Gal! Don't you slack off, ya hear?"
"Got it." The Fencer responded promptly, drawing her sword and pistol.
"Heck yeah..." Saoirse readied her Hellgun.
"Uh... Why is she grinning?" Yuri asked, worried.
"Oh, so we just chill... Ya got them, Sai?" Nat smirked. The weapon whirred to life as an answer, just as the young lady slid her helmet, goggles and mask onto her head. Nat shrugged "A'ight, go get'em." before watching the young Kasrkin join her fellows in striking fear into the enemy. She moved with incredible vigor for someone so loaded up with equipment. Her Hellgun hollered like a banshee as she fired ,enough to make Yuri cringe and cover her ears.
"What the heck!?" Yuri yelled
"Ah, yes, I forgot Sai has that issue with her Hellgun..." Monyka noted, then turned to Nat and asked "Hasn't she said she was gonna go get it fixed today or something?" as the screams of Imperial Shock Troops echoed in front of them. Yuri stared on with bugging eyes at the slaughter that the young tangerine-haired Kasrkin was so gleefully taking part in.
Nat shrugged "I think the Techpriests refused to fix it... Don't know why."
"Huh..." Monyka cupped her own chin and furrowed her brows "Curious."
Yuri stared at them with disbelief, before calling out "ARE WE NOT THE LEAST BIT CONCERNED SHE JUST BROKE OFF AND IS ENGAGING A PLATOON ALONE?!"
Nat looked to their new gal and said "Huh, right... Ya don't know Sai that well..." as the Hellgunner continued her assault, much to the chagrin of even the Gallians present beside them. "Here's the thing, New Gal. Sai can kinda be a one-girl death squad when she wants to. Especially if there's Daemons abound. And right now, she's just fond of showing off what she can do in case Colonel 'Childhood Friendship' over yonder decides to take notice." And she tilted her head toward the Baneblade.
"... Oh...?" Yuri paused.
"It's a running bet in the Regiment, to see who will incur Saoirse's wrath first. Our good, dense Colonel or some other poor sod trying to talk to her." Monyka shrugged. "Doesn't help she has some sort of problems with her mind that I cannot for the life of me pinpoint." And it sure as hell didn't help she was deppressive to top it all off. A Cadian Soldier that more fit a Krieg description, if not for that overjoyed, hyperactive persona she was putting up.
"Jeez..." Rosie said, approaching the girls. "Your friend's lost it."
"Nah, standard Kasrkin for ya." Pinkie Nat shrugged as Sai drop-kicked an Imp and then dumped more Hellgun rounds into him. "Seriously, there's two of you now worried for the well-being of someone I and Monyka know well."
The Hellgun of the girl screamed again as she raked the treeline, a cordial smile on her face as she lit up the False Imps. Gallian squads joined in to support, among which five Shock Troopers from the Sevens, one of them with an awfully genocidal grin on her face. And as the other Kasrkin finally made their way to her, the Hellgunner had got the last few shots in on a retreating squad. She lowered her Hellgun, then looked to Amy.
"Nice shootin', as usual, Sai." The Major leading the Kasrkin Corps gave her friend a nod and a punch in the shoulder.
"Thanks, ma'am." She responded, holding the smile.
... As the sound of gunfire died down and completely vanished, the screams of the wounded finally came. The Medical teams from both the Militia and Cadians had begun their work under the worried gazes of the soldiers, comrades to those hurt or killed. Two Chimera transports were taken out of action and a sponson from one of the Leman Russes had its Bolter mount destroyed.
The wounded were loaded into a still-working Chimera and the vics damaged by the assault were being hurriedly patched up to be sent back to the Kasr for prim and proper repairs. The Gallians had lost 5 Halftracks, two of which were hit by AT Rockets before they could offload their troop of 12 each. 30 Gallians had died in vehicles. 40 Cadians had suffered a similar fate within the Chimeras, their burned corpses being buried with the dog tags on the side of the road. They were stripped of kit and left only in their uniforms.
Alicia had watched the processions unfold. One of the dead had been a Commissar Cadet, a girl that was probably around 14 years old. All of the Cadians had been given a proper procession and burial, with prayers from an Imperial Scripture Book. The Gallians followed. She now sat aboard their old Halftrack, watching idly as the Convoy rolled on ahead. Their objective was to reach a local village and set up a FOB there, before assaulting the base tomorrow. The girl listened in on the Wireless chatter.
"... All other Regimental elements have reached their target areas without incident. Step-off will be tomorrow at dawn." Matias spoke through radio, his voice steely, emotionless. "Unlucky day, today."
"Aye. Was pretty nasty..." One of the Tank Commanders responded. "We'll make'em pay with blood, Colonel, don't worry."
"I know we will, Captain. Keep your eyes open."
"Wilco..."
"That was a shitshow..." The Shock Trooper that had so gleefully joined Sai on the front line said, checking her ammo. Her voice was gruff, harsh. Jane Turner, Alicia recalled now. Hated Imps with a burning passion.
"Yeah." The other girl, one wearing a beanie and with black stripes painted on her cheeks, answered calmly, looking over her grenades. She gleefully added "I hear we brought artillery with us." as she held a grin.
"Cadians did." Jane said, looking to her fellow Shocker. "Big sticks, 132mm."
"Hehehe... Sweet~." Cheslock smiled. Alicia had to remember the girl had a proclivity for explosive ordinance. Both using and making it. As the Convoy reached the supposed village they were supposed to use as a FOB, they saw Civilians coming out to greet them, waving to them with smiles. Some kids cheered on the advancing army as its vehicles entered the town. Awestruck was a perfect word to describe the kids that had walked out. The parents too.
The most striking thing must've been, of course, the Baneblade and its escort of Leman Russes. As the troops began to disembark, Matt heard some younger boys commenting on the super-heavy vehicle and saw them smiling. He nodded to them, before walking to meet Captain Varrot and the other officers. He nodded to all of them, then said "So, we're at our step-off point and all other Regimental units have reached their own positions. We'll have Artillery set up to begin bombarding the enemy by tomorrow, early in the morning."
"That is good to hear, Colonel." Varrot noted. "We'll have our squads deploying to assist in the assaults on the bases. Squad 7 will take the one just due east of this RV point."
"I'll be deploying one of my own units to assist them while we deal with any sort of response force the False Imperials will send our way." He answered, arranging his own webbing. He added "But for now, I may need to catch some sleep... Today's been strange." before turning and leaving. Varrot turned to Welkin, then to the others and let out a sigh. The Colonel had just lost 40 of his own thanks to lackluster scouting. It always hit hard when your own went under...
And Matt had to take some time to process it. He sat himself down by a house and watched the winding road that led out east into the forest. He looked over his own carapace armor plating... Scarred, battered, riddled with damage from all directions. This damned suit of armor got him through Cadia and through the first day here. He had to admit, he was glad he was alive...
... But that left many unaccounted for.
Removing the list of names from his pocket, he merely unfurled the bottom part of this elongated parchment that had all of the Regiment's soldiers named on it. The regiment had counted 20,000 plus before the destruction of Cadia took place. They'd come here with 5,000 and about 40% of their vehicles. Imperial orders decreed that after the third month, they'd have to stop searching for survivors... He prayed that the others were still alive and that they'd soon meet again, but so far, no luck... They had been hard pressed into combat after the bastard False Imperials opened fire... And now 40 more joined the dead on that list...
"Hey, Colonel, sir!" He heard a happy voice speak up, sliding the list out of sight, before looking up... He smirked.
His old childhood friend stood above him, her usual smile on her face.
"Hey, Sai. What got into you, sneaking up like that." He quipped. And how the hell did she manage to sneak up to him. She was wearing full Kasrkin kit.
"Just came to check up on my best pal." She answered, sitting herself down. "Sooo... This planet's pretty cool."
He snorted, then shook his head. Ah, Saoirse, never change. "It is, yeah."
She turned to him, smile withstanding, but asked in a more serious voice "How're you holding up, Matt? Things got really rough back there."
"I'm okay, Sai." He hummed, looking forward again, now in deep thought "We did lose a lot... Both on the way here and on Cadia. I'm just worried."
Sai leaned forward, smiling still, then said "I get that. Well, not to the degree ya do, since I'm no Colonel, but I'm sure ya got this. You sure did have it all together in basic." And she patted him on the back "So, c'mon. Stop sagging. Girls don't like guys like that." before winking. "I mean, Monyka could look at it as a sign of weakness and kick you out of our little club."
He burst into a chuckle "I never agreed to join that damn club of yours in Basic, girls..." And he stood up. "C'mon, ya dummy. I have to go actually get some rest and you need to go back to the squad." before the two walked off. The soldier wandered off after bidding goodbye to his old friend for now... What he didn't realize was, however, that Isara had been watching from behind their tank. She wondered if they were... No, she shook that thought out of her head, blushing, before walking off.
... Not good to wonder now...