The way we had come was scoured clean of all life, from the valley itself right into the mountain pass and perhaps further. The soil in the valley was torn up and washed away, revealing the pale bedrock beneath; so immense had the volume of water been that even the stones had been smoothed down by its passage. The river that had formed the reservoir was now merrily following its old path, strong and winding… And now the water within it had a slightly purple sheen to it when looked at in the correct angle under the sunlight. Frak. I really hoped that a real Saint came and purified it, before The Emperor's Pet Psychopaths decided that the whole planet was lost and lobbed a cyclonic torpedo at Perlia(1). Being a literal daemon while still trying to do my best for the Imperium was hard enough without accidentally condemning worlds!
Thanks to my quick thinking to release the dam's waters, the battle was brief and the casualties we sustained were minimal; none of them fatal, thank The Emperor. Kolfax had taken a round and was touch and go for a bit, until I was able to reach him. Our actual Medicae, Ariott, had mostly been working on keeping the wounded alive until I showed up to curse their boo-boos away. Worryingly, I noticed some of those tending to the wounded gathering water from the river and applying it to the wounded, either giving them it to drink, holding cold compresses to their foreheads, or even washing out their wounds with it. The water they collected seemed to help, as I could feel their pain flow into me without even concentrating on it, and it seemed to work to heal their injuries to some degree. Still, I winced, praying to The Emperor for forgiveness for this great Sin, and for the souls of those damned by my taint. I only hoped that any corruption that I'd caused to the water wouldn't be permanent; oh how naively optimistic I turned out to be on that count. After a day of rest (and the corresponding celebrations of our survival) before that fateful conversation with Felecia and 'Maggy', we eventually moved on through the tunnels.
"So, do you think they'll rebuild the dam?" Jurgen asked out of idle curiosity as we slowly drove through the still damp tunnel, illumination strips in the ceiling lighting our journey albeit dimly. When asked about why a passageway meant for water had any lighting at all, Felecia just shrugged and said how the occasional maintenance crew would have to go through, and they'd have to be able to see now wouldn't they? Our vehicles were going at a brisk walking pace so that the treads didn't slide on the trickles of water on the floor and send them careening into the side of the tunnel; if one of the vehicles got truly jammed up in there then our way out would be cut off, so slow and steady was our best course of action. A few of the more fit and active members of our group took the opportunity to get out and stretch their legs for a bit, which led the first Perlian I'd ever spoken to walking beside us and piping up.
"After that stunt?" Tayber asked rhetorically in response to Jurgen's question. "The Mechanicus and Ministorum are going to get into a pissing match over who gets the location. Seriously, blessing a whole Emperor-damned river?! I… I didn't even think a Saint could do that!" I was deeply uncomfortable with the look of awe and near worship he was giving me, knowing full well that I was unworthy of it. Jurgen just nodded, bored out of his mind with our slow driving pace, but our vehicle's other passenger decided to stir things up.
"Ciaphas is full of surprises." Illric replied, grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear. "I wouldn't put much past him." The damned Xeno was yet again having fun at my expense, and I wondered if he'd missed his calling as a Harlequin.
"Thanks for that." I grumbled crossly to him.
"You're entirely welcome, Saint Cain." He responded with a pious air, giving a low bow and with a look that screamed innocence on his face. Yes, that confirmed that the Eldar truly had missed his calling in the Harlequins, given his malicious sense of humor. As it turned out, the dam would eventually be rebuilt on the exact same spot, which would cause no end of headaches for me in the future. Of course I didn't know anything about that at the time. Instead I hopped out of the buggy and decided to jog away from what was becoming a discussion on my apparent Sainthood. Going down the line of vehicles and those on foot, I offered encouragement and a kind smile to those I passed by until I eventually caught up to Norbert.
"How are we doing on supplies?" I asked him, eager for something to take my mind off of the constant adoring looks everyone was giving me and the steady trickle of energy flowing into my soul from their mistaken belief in my holiness.
"Well, the heavy ammunition is almost depleted." He admitted as he skimmed over his ever present dataslate. "Your blessing of the shell saved several rounds, but I don't think that the Basilisk would be useful in a drawn-out battle. We tried the tactic of making it look like we had ammunition during the battle, and the guns kept firing. That saved us a little bit of ammunition as well(2)."
"Well, that's some good news at least." I replied, trying to keep our supply officer's morale up. I made the mental note to keep Jurgen well away from the tanks if they tried that gambit again; for all I knew he might make such impossibilities truly impossible. Shaking such thoughts away, I returned to the matter of logistics. "And our supply of food and water?"
"Well, as for water? We managed to get a bit from the river. Whatever you did to it seems to have sterilized it and made it safe for consumption." Norbert shrugged, completely missing my brief expression of horror. Damnit! It was bad enough the wounded had been given the daemon tainted water I'd created, but now everyone would be drinking it?! And there was no good reason to tell them to discard the cursed water without revealing my true nature! Again, I silently uttered heartfelt and beseeching prayers to the Golden Throne, begging the God-Emperor to ignore these people's actions done out of ignorance. The former Administratum worker continued. "So we managed to fill our tanks up. The food supplies are in good conditions, and only got better as we were able to forage. We should be in good shape until we meet the Imperial Lines."
"And how long do you think that will be?" I asked, keeping the dismay I felt at knowing our entire water supply was now tainted to myself. Focusing on reaching Imperial lines at least gave me something positive to think about. Imagining a hot pot of tanna, waiting for me at the 12th's encampment, made my mouth water.
"Hopefully not too long." He stated with an optimistic smile, sharing the theory behind this spot of hope. "And with your stunt at the dam, we may have weakened the Ork lines enough for the front to be pushed forwards(3)."
"If we're lucky, maybe." I mumbled, unconvinced that I could ever be that lucky. If I were lucky, I wouldn't have been turned into a frakking Daemon Prince. "And for small arms?"
Again Norbert turned to his dataslate. "Well, the sun's been good, and the Chimeras still have fuel, so the lasguns shouldn't be running dry anytime soon. As for the autocannons? If the worst comes to worst, we'll just revert to the Ork weaponry we still have lying around."
"Let us pray it doesn't come to that." I said. If nothing else, using Imperial arms was good for morale as opposed to using the clunky and inaccurate Orkish stuff. The march continued for a little while, before I got back into the buggy that Jurgen was still driving. Despite our slow pace, it was not much of a trek. Those few hours spent in the tunnel likely saved us days of travel. Finally, we came to a heavy metal grate. Felecia, who had been in front with her modified Sentinel, hopped out of the machine and went over to the barrier. She twitched a little, and merely placed her hand on it, ignoring any input pads or mechanisms. After only a few seconds, the grate began to slide open, creating a great squeaking sound that rattled my eardrums. She then shook her head a little, and looked back at me with a grin.
"Well, that saved us half an hour." Our tech-priestess mused(4). Evidently Maggy was anxious, probably to get as far away from the dam as possible. The Salamanders went up first, ready to scout ahead, and we followed close behind. After several hours in the near-dark, the sunlight was a sudden yet welcome change. We peered ahead, the ocean finally visible, our goal within sight after long months of hazardous travel.
"Would you look at that," Kolfax said, eyes wide and an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he looked out at the expanse of sparkling seawater. "I'd have thought I'd be dead by the time we saw it…"
"We made it." Tayber whispered, making the sign of the Aquila. Most of the caravan followed suit. After months of following a 'Saint', even the least religious of the lot would give even the biggest Emperor-botherers a run for their coin. Still, I couldn't begrudge them their increased faith, as it kept morale up and would hopefully keep them from being damned by my presence.
"We're not out of this yet." I reminded them all, firmly yet kindly as the persona I'd taken on was wont to do. Illric came to the front beside me, and looked around with his keen Eldar vision. He even put on his Ranger mask, using the vision amplifiers in the visor.
"I see defensive lines. The Orks may have been pushed back." He reported, musing on the potential strategic situation.
"They're not on the land-bridge?" I asked, shocked at the thought of what piece-meal units of Guard had made it down to the planet being able to force the green brutes back.
"No. Scratch that 'may'." The Ranger's voice was full of satisfaction, and those around me let out a restrained cheer. Perhaps we were closer to getting out of this than I'd realized.
As we dragged ourselves out from the mountainside tunnel and down to the main coastal road, we assumed a defensive formation. The civvies took the place I would have wanted to be in, surrounded by heavy armor and best troops but alas, for the sake of morale I was at the front as per usual. All this being at the front made me very nostalgic for (mostly) being at the rear with the 12th, and I was eager to rejoin the regiment with us being so close to where Imperial lines should be. We were spread out so that our forces wouldn't be trapped, just as we had been prior to entering the mountains. The fact that we still had more than four-fifths of the total forces we had rallied over the course of our journey(5) astounded me. After a quick pace towards the land bridge we were near to the final supply dump we needed to take, the last obstacle between us and friendly forces. The Orks had taken it of course, but their defenses were much lighter here, merely pickets compared to the lines Illric had seen.
"Since the Orks are still sitting on the depot, that means that they haven't taken everything from it." Jurgen, our resident Ork expert, declared as we all poured over a map. "Odds are that they're stockpiling there for another attack."
"Would it be heavily defended?" I asked, knowing that any Imperial Commander with the brains that the Emperor blessed a particularly clever rodent with would make sure that supplies that close to the frontlines would be well guarded. My aide just shook his head, and reminded me that these were the sort of Xenos that even the Eldar found alien which we were dealing with.
"Not likely. Orks tend to all want to be on the front, especially when it's right there. Any Greenskins we'd see are likely to be there as a sort of punishment."
Trusting Jurgen's judgment, I made the decision to advance upon the depot as quickly as possible with our forward elements. This was the last hurdle between me and delivering my charges to safety, both those living and those souls kept within me; after this I had a date with a pot of tanna and a trip to the Golden Throne in order to keep my promise. I'll admit, that with our destination so close, I might have made the same decision even if I had known just what was waiting for us.
There weren't many Ork vehicles as we got closer and closer to the occupied supply dump. This likely should have been a foreshadowing to what we would find, but I just saw it as mere good fortune. A while later, we were graced to see Thunderbolts flying overhead, showing that we were even closer to Imperial lines than we'd hoped. This caused a spontaneous cheer from the group, which thankfully didn't seem to draw the attention of the Orks(6). As we finally got into position, we set our plan into motion. The pickets were taken care of swiftly, with the troops using the most beat-up Ork vehicles to disguise their approach until it was too late for the Orks. This worked beautifully, and with no fatalities as there weren't any people suddenly screaming in my head.
Despite the fact that I could have been easily shot, I was sticking my head out of the Chimera I was riding in, wanting to confirm with my eyes what my combead told my ears; it's an old habit of mine. Soon, the walls of the compound came into clearer view, and the battle truly began. The compound had two meter high walls wrapping completely around it, with the Orks having tried to fortify it to some crude extent. It didn't help them much. Illric was taking expert shots at the Orks manning the walls, removing the defenders from their guns. This significantly lowered the amount of firepower coming at us. "Take the gates!" I ordered, dramatically pointing my chainsword towards the direction of said ramshackle gates, though I felt rather silly doing so; I suppose I got caught up in the moment.
"Would you like me to drive you closer, so you can hit them with your chainsword?" The Chimera driver cheekily asked.
"If you wouldn't mind." I replied, trying to keep myself from bursting out laughing at the incredulousness of what he had suggested. Felecia's Sentinel was hobbling out in front, her flamer burning the wooden palisade set up by the gate, evidently hurriedly put in place once we had become visible. It didn't do much aside from making the crashing of our vehicle through it look like a beast emerging from hell… Which, considering my unfortunate affliction, wasn't an inapt description. Our lasers opened up as we breached the gates, thinning the herd. Then Illric started swearing up a storm, and I knew we had made a mistake. I peered through the clearing smoke to see why he was swearing, and then I promptly joined in. "Oh, Frak me."
The entire place was filled with Ork buggies, and a veritable sea of Greenskins. They roared their damned warcry, and rushed us.
"Clear out!" I ordered, realizing the situation was hopeless. Damn any accusations of cowardice, this would've been a slaughter(7)! One of our buggies was hit repeatedly- there was so much weapons fire that even the Orks would hit something- and the familiar taste of corpse starch filled my mouth. A few troops staggered out, but were swiftly surrounded. At any moment, they would likely join their driver in damnation. I drank deeply from the Warp, my eyes glowing so much that they seemed to serve as a second pair of lights. I snapped my fingers, and let that power run freely. A great wave of purple fire spread out across the area. incinerating the Orks, and thankfully leaving the surrounded troops more or less fine. Grenbow gasped in awe as he looked up at me. I held up the amulet to check the heat; it was cold. The God-Emperor seemed to approve, obviously because I was saving some of His actually worthy servants from death and damnation.
"Get out of here! I'll hold them back!" I ordered uncharacteristically; perhaps it was my daemonhood talking, but that rush of mushrooms invigorated me. For lack of a better term, I must have been drunk off the power, sliding down our disabled Chimera and drawing my chainsword. Jurgen drew his lasgun, coming down beside me and began taking Orks down from a distance. Illric also decided to stay, leaping up onto a pole and firing down at the largest Orks he saw. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the troops slipped away from whatever terrible fate awaited them. Demara and Tamworth's vehicle began to swerve towards me, seemingly determined to help. "GO!" I ordered, still lost in the haze of power but still not wanting them to become sucked into me were the worst to happen. Thankfully, I hadn't lost all sense of humanity and pulled the Aquila off. I saw their vehicle slip away with the rest of the group. Then, as if by magic, the Orks drew back. An Ork that massively outsized any of them strode forth, brushing his lesser kin aside as he stomped towards us.
"Oh Frak… this was their command post." I whispered in quiet horror, the haze leaving me as none other than Korbul stormed into the area.
"HUMIE!" He bellowed, weapons drawn and beady red eyes looking right at me.
"Jurgen, can you shoot him?" I asked, trying very hard to not start sounding like a mouse. Instead of opening fire, my aide was backing off even though he kept aim at the small horde surrounding the Warboss.
"No can do, sir… He's challenging you to a duel." He explained, phlegmatic as always. The Orks nudged him back out of the circle, and started roaring as their leader charged with a sword far larger than I was in one hand and what seemed to be a tank gun in the other. Time seemed to slow down, and I dodged, narrowly avoiding his sword as I rolled out of the way. Thankfully, the Aquila didn't slide off of me. The fires and lights gleamed off of the gold of my prison, catching the massive Ork's eye.
"Dat's sum gud flashy bitz." Korbul grumbled as he turned to me. "Might be a gud token ta remember ya by." That enraged me- the thought of my tie to my humanity, a holy artifact forged by the God-Emperor Himself, being used as a trinket for this Xenos brute.
"You won't be alive to remember a thing!" I growled, holding my chainsword in one hand and laspistol in another. The Ork chuckled in amusement and spun at me. By sheer instinct, instead of retreating, I brought the chainsword up and his sword met my own. I should've been blown away by that, sent tumbling ass-over-face from the blow. And yet… I didn't. I caught the blade, impossibly locking it against my own in a duelist's clinch. This seemed to delight my foe.
"You ain't a normal humie, are ya?" Korbul asked, a psychotic grin on his face. "Youz guna give me a good fight!" He drew his blade back, and went to strike again. Somehow, I caught it once more, pushing it back, and tried to make an opening. He caught my blade, and our duel continued. Korbul never stopped laughing, toothy maw twisted in a wide grin. "Gud! Gud job, Humie!" He shouted, overjoyed that I was apparently not dying as quickly as I should have were I fully mortal. Every now and then, I'd strike a blow on his armor, but it was as if I was throwing rotten fruit for all the good it did. The only thing apparently unarmored was his face. "Youz guna use dat stealthy fiya?" He growled tauntingly(8). Well, if he didn't see it as a cheap trick, then it was likely that his fellows wouldn't rush me. Thus, I focused, and the fires of Slaanesh erupted from my blade. I prayed that my chainsword's machine spirit would survive this trial, and I swung. It cleaved through his own sword like a hot knife through butter. He stared dumbly at the smoldering hilt on his own massive blade, stunned enough to stop fighting for a moment.
"Da risk I took was calculated, but by Gork am I bad at numbuhs." He mused loudly to himself even as I then sliced his arms off one after the other. Quickly putting away my pistol, I leapt into the air and brought my burning blade down into his armored chest and right through his black heart.
"Return to the hell that spawned you, Greenskin." I hissed in angered satisfaction, already tasting mushrooms.
"Dat… dat wuz a gud fight, humie… props to ya." He whispered, smiling softly and with what may have been respect in his eyes, before the flames consumed him. It was at that point that another Ork let out a bellow, and the others immediately started fighting each other. Jurgen came to me as I extinguished the tainted purple flames with a thought and wrenched my chainsword out of the charred corpse. My faithful aide grabbed me by the arm, and we raced off. Illric was still providing covering fire as we weaved through the Orks, all of them seemingly rushing the center area.
"Holy Omnissiah, Ciaphas!" Felecia shouted. She was still nearby, her Sentinel badly damaged but still mobile. "That was amazing!"
"You saw that?" I asked her. Amazingly, I wasn't out of breath even after my intense duel. Then again… That was now par for the course considering my nature. The cog-girl just smiled enthusiastically at me as we dashed for our forces.
"Saw that?! I recorded the whole damn thing!" Well, that would prove that the Ork was dead… Though that would also mean that my witchcraft would get out.
"You didn't need to do that…" I mumbled, playing my fear at being exposed as humility. Illric, however, was having none of it.
"Attention all convoy goers, you may now praise Ciaphas Cain for killing the Warboss in single combat." He declared, giving me a smirk that just begged to be wiped off of his face.
The cheer that went up likely could have been heard for miles. This also seemed to make the Orks realize what had happened, and whatever bonds of cooperation they still had shattered at once. Suddenly, they turned on one another in an orgy of self-destructive violence.
"You love to see it." Piers said as his Chimera came to pick us up, intently watching the bloody infighting amongst the Orks with satisfaction.
We took off after that, going at maximum speed towards the Imperial lines. As we drew closer, I saw that the Thunderbolts weren't the only craft in the air. Strange craft that I had never seen before flew overhead, using weapons I didn't think possible against the odd Orkish flyer or ground formation. Illric broke out into a massive grin as he spied them.
"Vampires." He said triumphantly. "It seems that my people have come to the planet." I didn't really get to see them up close as we began our final push, but I will admit they were majestic. Seeing them in formation with Thunderbolts created a strange feeling in me. Not one of fear, but it seemed to be a sign of the changing times. We cheered as one as one of them performed a bombing run that wiped out a still-intact Ork battlegroup, and gave us time to push forwards. It was at that moment that Felecia finally got us connected with Imperial command lines on the vox.
"This is Cain." I said into the vox, projecting confidence. It was good that I was, as the voice that responded to me was far higher ranking than I expected.
"General Alcas."
"Captain Yriel," Another voice piped up, with that accent I'd come to associate with an Eldar speaking Gothic after months spent with Illric. "Slavhreenur."He said with the utmost respect and a tinge of awe in his tone. "I am pleased to finally hear your voice."
"So you're the Eldar in charge of your people's forces?" I asked this Yriel.
"Indeed I am, Slavhreenur. It is fortunate that I happened to be nearby when I and my crew took the Oath."
"I'm grateful for your help." I told the Eldar, and I meant it; their aircraft were certainly making things much easier at the very least. "General?"
"It's strange, working alongside them, but it's something I wouldn't mind getting used to." The general admitted. "You've caused quite the stir here, Commissar."
"Not usually the Commissar's job, sir." I replied, as the Chimera accelerated. Jurgen had slipped in and moved the driver aside. Evidently since we were so close, he wanted to get back with the unit as soon as possible. I took the time to peer out of the hatch. We were in the lead, with the rest of the convoy accelerating like mad to keep up.
"Can you confirm that Korbul is dead?" The general asked me intently.
Frak. I hurriedly tried to think of something. "I don't think Ork ashes can lead their horde, sir." I firmly replied. Let him think I did something smart like dousing him in prometheum and setting him alight. Illric suppressed a snort, obviously amused by my attempt to dodge the subject of my duel and use of my powers. My statement seemed to please the General at least.
"Good. So the Orks will be too busy infighting to regroup. Our forces are advancing inwards as we speak."
"I saw those… Vampires, right?" I replied questioningly, still new to the name my Eldar companion had given to the craft. This got Yriel's attention, as he spoke again.
"Oh? Well-learned, are you?"
"More like I have a Ranger tag-along." I replied. "His name's Illric Nightspear. Know him?" It only occurred to me later that it was rather ridiculous to assume that two Eldar knew each other based solely off of the fact that they were Eldar. Fortunately in this case at least, I didn't cause any offense.
"What are the odds?" The Eldar on the other end mumbled. "I know of him. He's a legend among us."
I gave Illric a look. "Could've fooled me." I replied, locking eyes with him. With an excessive amount of drama, he acted as if I had stabbed him in the heart, swaying and collapsing onto the Chimera floor. There was loud laughter from the other end of the call.
"I'll tell you all about him, Slavhreenur!" Yriel cackled, before signing off. The general did so as well.
"You done?" I asked the Eldar Ranger with the soul of a comedian. He got up with a smirk.
"I knew that adding an 'r' to my name wasn't going to get the fanboys away…" He mumbled, before nodding, and peering out of the Chimera. "I'm seeing Imperial forces about sixteen kilometers away." He stated.
We were almost there. I turned the vox back on. "All vehicles, full ahead! We're almost there! Sixteen kilometers until we reach the Imperial lines!" I turned to Jurgen, and then back at Illric and locked eyes with him. His face paled as he realized what I planned to do.
"Please… have mercy…" Illric whispered.
I had none for the Ranger.
"Jurgen? Get us to the lines as fast as you can." I replied, sliding into one of the gunnery positions and making sure I was firmly strapped in. The Chimera lurched, and suddenly we were going much faster. I was soon firing on what remained of the Ork hordes, as we plowed through their ragged lines. Occasionally, the Chimera would make a crunching sound as Jurgen decided that the Orks needed to get closer to nature by way of forcing them into the dirt under the Chimera's tracks. Illric recovered from the nausea caused by Jurgen's driving skills enough to take shots from the hatch, aiming for the Orks with anti-vehicle armaments. He seemed to be doing a fantastic job, as most of the vehicles didn't crash. Every now and then, some would and I'd have a few more souls to pack away. However… We crossed one more trench, and suddenly I saw Leman Russes, and several Eldar tank variants beside them(9).
We made it. By the Emperor, we'd made it and were, somehow, mostly intact. Jurgen slid our vehicle to a halt, and I raced out of it, watching as the rest of the convoy finally, after a long few months, was back in Imperial territory. More than four-fifths of the trucks had arrived safe and sound(10). One of the Guardsmen amongst the Imperial lines was the first to approach me. He gave me a sincere and respectful salute, a bit of awe in his eyes as he looked at me.
"Commissar Cain? I'm Captain Renkyn, Valhallan 362nd. We've been ordered to escort you for a debriefing." He said. I returned the salute, smiling gratefully.
"Thank you, Captain." I replied. "Can you get the troops some medical supplies?" I requested. Since I wouldn't be around them now that I'd be returned to my regiment, I couldn't exactly take their pain away. The Captain nodded, gesturing to his men to see to it as he spoke again.
"I'll see what I can round up. Anything else?"
"Do you happen to have any Tanna?" I meekly requested, hopeful as this was a man of Valhalla. In response, the Captain pulled out a flask and handed it to me. I would say that I gently sipped it. That would be a lie. I chugged it down, doing my best not to outright moan in ecstasy as the delicate taste(11)poured into my mouth. I handed the empty flask back to the Captain, who whistled, obviously impressed by my show of thirst.
"The 12th said you were fond of the stuff, but I didn't believe 'em." He admitted.
"How are the 12th?" I asked, still hopeful. The captain's face fell, and my heart fell with his expression and explanation.
"Torn to pieces, sir. Over five out of every six of 'em didn't make it, what with their Colonel's stupidity." He grunted in obvious disgust.
Oh no. Oh God-Emperor please no. Thoughts of Divas and the other men I knew went through my head as I shakily asked for clarification. "What happened?"
Renkyn looked at me sadly, seeing how the news had shaken me. "Colonel Mosture wouldn't leave his position, and they were massacred. I'm sorry, sir."
With that, we were led further behind the lines. I needed to find whatever remained of the 12th. I had to find out what had happened to my men.
From a recorded pict cast of the Perlian Film Festival Awards:
"...And for Best Holo Series… Is 'Cain's Heroes'!"
~ Crowd bursts into cheering and applause. The host joins in the applause then continues reading from their notes. ~
"Also going to 'Cain's Heroes' are the awards for Best Practical Effects, awarded for the duel scene between Cain and Korbul, and Best Costuming. But perhaps most exciting of all, is… Best Supporting Actor, to Friedas van Gurn (12), for his portrayal of Gunner Ferik Jurgen!"
~ The audience rises to their feet in a standing ovation as a handsome, well groomed man stands and makes his way to the stage. As he approaches a screen set over the stage flares to life, showing the man's face but smudged with grime and an unkempt beard set underneath a furry hat, makeup making him look totally unlike himself. As he climbs the stage he shakes the host's hand, being handed a gleaming award before being invited to say a few words. The actor goes to the podium, clearing his throat due to obvious emotion. ~
"Thank you, thank you all, and may the Saint-Liberator and the God-Emperor be with you."
~ The man breathes in, waiting for the applause to die down before continuing. ~
"As some of you may know, this project was deeply personal to me. My grandfather was one of those whom the Saint-Liberator rescued with his March during those dark times of the Siege. I grew up on his stories, about the Saint, about the Tayber siblings, about the Eldar Ranger that brought cheer to the convoy whenever he could. When I was given the role of Ferik Jurgen, a reporter asked me if I was disappointed that I didn't get the leading role of Cain; I told them truthfully that I wasn't. It was the role I was hoping for. Because more than any other, the stories my grandfather told about Jurgen stuck with me the most. Of his dutifulness in aiding the Saint, his stoic steadfastness. Every step the Saint took, Jurgen was there with him."
~ He pauses for breath before continuing. ~
"The tale of Ferik Jurgen is the tale of the everyman. He is proof that even the humblest of us can serve the God-Emperor and aid the heroes He grants us. Saint Cain told many members of his flock not to forget Jurgen. And none of them did; they took this lesson from the Saint to heart, that even the humblest and meekest of us has worth and value. That even someone who at first glance seems like nothing is worthy of standing besides a Saint. That even beneath dirt, grime, and odor can beat the heart of an Imperial Citizen, of a hero, no matter how humble. I was given the blessing of trying to honor Ferik Jurgen, of not forgetting him, just like the Saint wished. I pray only that I did him at least a portion of the credit this man is owed."
~ Pict cast ends with the sounds of thunderous applause. ~
1: Somehow, it passed the tests for taint, showing up as a river of Holy Water. I still don't know how. I blame Ciaphas' biomancy.
2: A common tactic when running low on ammo against Orks is to pretend you still have ammo. It works more often than not. I have personally seen a Guardsman mow down an Ork horde by turning a heavy stubber while making machine gun noises with his mouth.
3: Norbert was right in this regard; the Guard launched a counteroffensive that pushed past the land-bridge and they were making inroads into the continent with decent speed. Additionally, the first Eldar ships had appeared in the system, having successfully destroyed the second Ork fleet by leading it into an Imperial battlegroup that included battleships.
4: It appears that Felecia's… patron was getting impatient with the march, and wanted his… host? Yes, host, to be safer. Why a C'Tan would care so much is still beyond me.
5: At the time, 87% of the total force that had been gathered was still alive. Of that deceased 13%, all of them were inside Cain at the time. So it could be said that the entire force was still there… if deployed very unconventionally.
6: The squadron would report seeing the convoy, which would provide a morale boost to the Imperials, as the rumors of 'The Great March' had reached them by that point. Visible confirmation was greatly appreciated.
7: Ciaphas' willingness to retreat when necessary isn't seen as cowardice by anyone who has fought alongside him. Rather, many see it as the bravery to take any shit from High Command so that the troops under his command can fight another day.
8: The Orks believe different colors do different things, like red making things go faster. Purple makes things more stealthy; the logic of this, to quote some captured Orks painted bright purple yet still almost managing to infiltrate several key areas on how they managed to be nearly invisible, replied "Well humie, have ya eva seen a purple Ork?"
9: Some Eldar land vehicles have slowly been added to some Forge Worlds with minimal to moderate protest, but have become beloved by the troops who use them.
10: All in all, well over 82% of the entire convoy made it to the Imperial lines.
11: Calling that concoction delicate is like calling a Baneblade dainty.
12: Friedas van Gurn would go on to depict Jurgen in over a dozen holo dramas and films. By the time of van Gurn's retirement, he was considered one of the finest actors in the Segmentum. I will admit, even I teared up some from the ending scene of 'Cain's Heroes' where van Gurn as Jurgen is diligently digging graves for the fallen members of the 12th Valhallan Artillery Regiment. When I asked Jurgen about the truthfulness of that scene, he just shrugged and said that he 'did his duty by the regiment'.