Chapter Text
I sighed as I continued cleaning my Hellgun. At 26, despite my origins it was a duty I knew well. My homeworld, Havenus, was a small, unremarkable Agri-World that hadn't seen conflict in over 10,000 years, trading the food we grew for machines and various goods from other nearby worlds such as Graysonir and Vearunia. A simple life, one I hoped my numerous cousins and my brother continued to thrive in. As for me, the Emperor had called me to join his Imperial Guard eight years ago, and I soon found myself aboard the 12 kilometer long Apocalypse Class Battleship Light Of Dawn, the vessel I've spent the past eight years becoming so familiar with.
Eight years in the shooting range, occasionally dating some of the women on the ship and ultimately breaking up with them one way or another when they were unwilling to wait until marriage, and being slightly bored. Okay, very bored.
"Attention Havenus 117th Regiment, please report to starboard hanger 12 for briefing."
I finished cleaning my Hellgun, strapped it to my back, placed one of my Laspistols in the holster on my right hip and the other on my left, and secured my knives and grenades in various places, including on my chest and legs. Getting up, I saw several others getting out of their bunks. I walked over to where my buddies Daniel Thompson and Allison Ventra were standing up from their own bunks, strapping some grenades, knives, and other gear to their chests.
Daniel was a tall man, standing 5'9 and broad as a barrel, with greenish-yellow skin and brown hair. Allison was slightly shorter than myself, she stood 5'5 compared to my 5'7 and had white skin, reddish-blonde hair, and blue eyes. Glancing at a mirror in the corner of my eye, I checked that my own dark-brown hair was in good shape before putting on my helmet.
"Alright, you two, lets go."
I turned and walked out, the rapid footsteps indicating that Daniel and Allison had finished gearing up and were moving up behind me.
Daniel moved up on my left and spoke, his voice an indication of the fact he was a couple years younger than me. "So, what do you think this is? Another surprise drill?"
Allison snorted as she moved up on my right. "Come on, Daniel, don't tell me you don't feel it? This is different. It has to be. I'm getting restless here."
I sighed. "Shut it, you two."
The two slipped back into professionalism. "Yes, Sir."
I smiled. Despite the fact I outrank them, we'd been friends long enough to know that ranks really only matter out in the field. As we entered the Hanger at the head of most of the 117th, I saw Sergeant Grant Forge, a 6'4 man with black skin, black hair, and brown eyes standing in the middle of the bay. I led the others towards him and saluted.
"Lieutenant. Timely as always."
I nodded. "I do my best, Sir."
I went to parade rest along with Daniel and Allison as we waited for the rest of the Regiment to assemble. When they were the Sergeant grunted and brought up a series of holoprojections.
"Alright, we've finally got a mission. There's been an uprising on the planet Cavosarir, a Forge World known in this Sector for producing a particularly powerful variant of the Leman Russ Vanquisher Tank. We need those machines, so we're being sent to put down the traitors and, if we lose any units, grab some of those Tanks for ourselves. The traitors have dug up a xenos starship that was buried deep underground and are using it to wipe out the orbital defences. We'll secure the remaining platforms, take out that ship, then deploy planetside. Any questions?"
As the various Privates looked around and muttered to each other, I kept my eyes on the holoprojections. The alien vessel was long and curved, with a bulbous forward section and two engines on the rear, with a faded purple-ish hull.
The Sergeant nodded. "Alright, we'll be deploying at 0900 tomorrow, so buckle up, boys and girls, because you're going to be heading right into the fire."
Good thing our standard gear is rated for a wide array of environments, including space. The next morning I walked over to an emerald green and blood red Valkyrie, Echo 419, a Vendetta variant like the others in our possession, and got in along with Daniel, Allison, and several others. We were ordered to secure one of the larger Defence Platforms, a 2 kilometer wide sheet of metal and guns built around a large Nova Cannon. Not quite as powerful as the one on the Light, but it'd certainly do quite a bit of damage if the traitors got ahold of it.
"So, Lieutenant, want to bet on who gets the first kill?"
I looked Private O'Freil in the eyes. "No. We are here to save Cavosarir and any civilians we can find. Understood?"
The man nodded, gulping nervously. After that, things were silent aside from hostile flak thumping against the hull until a light turned green overhead.
"Prepare to go in, boys!"
The ramp opened and we rushed out, finding cover behind some crates. I peaked out and fired, taking down a traitor Guardsman, and noticed that the traitors all had glowing red eyes and horns growing out of their heads. It was bizarre, but it also made distinguishing friend from foe a bit easier.
We advanced in increments, slowly making our way to the door and pushing them back so reinforcements could land.
"This is Sergeant O'Reilly of the Catachan 212th! Requesting reinforcements near the reactor, hostiles are planting a bomb to destroy the station from the inside!"
I cursed. "Everyone, double time!"
O'Freil got up only to take a rocket to the face. I stood up and slapped another one aside, causing it to fly out of the bay and out of sight. We kept fighting, eventually reaching the corridor on the far side where the Sergeant had me and the other three Lieutenants gather around him.
"Alright, we have to split up. Boll, Mackenzie, take your Squads to secure the reactor and disarm that bomb. Kantor, Levitsky, you and your Squads are with me. We have to secure the CIC or else we'll be in for a world of hurt. Come on!"
Hefting our Lasguns, and in my case my Hellgun, we split up, each Lieutenant leading five Squads of 10 Guardsmen, a total of 50 each, to our objectives. Commissar Elena Zuvir, who had been silent for most of the time, followed the Sergeant. Allison and Daniel watched my flanks as we moved.
A few hundred meters from the reactor room, I signaled Daniel and Allison to follow me down a side corridor to flank the enemy only for a number of explosions to sound throughout the station. The two jumped back and I rolled forward as part of the structure collapsed, separating us.
I contacted them on the vox. "You two find another way around, I'll take care of this side."
They protested, but eventually obeyed as I kept walking. Turning a corner, I found myself facing a woman in the uniform of a Guard Regiment from Catachan trying to yank her knife out of a traitor's skull. She was surrounded by the bodies of both traitors and loyalists, and was maybe an inch shorter than me.
Given the bulkiness of her armour, I could probably fit my entire head in just half of her breastplate alone, she was most likely a very attractive woman under that armour. Even with all of her gear, I could tell she had an hourglass figure. After a moment, I took one of my knives and handed it to her. She nodded and used it to cut her own out of the traitor.
"Thank you. I'm Private Roxxi Tahone, Catachan 212th Regiment." Even as I took back my knife, trading it for an extra ammo pack, I noticed how beautiful her voice was.
"You're welcome. I'm Lieutenant Evan Boll, Havenus 117th Regiment. The rest of my unit is cut off fighting throughout the rest of the station, so I guess we're stuck with each other. Not that I mind, if you're my company."
She snorted, and I could see the look in her eyes despite our visors even as she spoke with amusement. "I don't mind, either. Bomb's right through those doors."
"Let's go."
She turned around, picking up her bolter and checking the ammunition, and we started moving down the hall. As we did, I decided to strike up a conversation over our internal vox channels.
"So, you're from Catachan, eh?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I was born and raised in the jungles of that death world. To be honest, part of me is relieved to be out here away from that place. Especially the barking toads."
"Well, you've gotta have some good memories of the place. It was your home."
Tahone frowned. "Well, my mother's cooking was amazing, at times, but there are a lot of recipes on Catachan that just don't taste very good no matter what you do to them."
I nodded, looking down another hall for enemies as we advanced. "Well, that's better than nothing. Personally, I've got quite a few good memories of Havenus, but it's an Agri-World so a lot of them also have to do with plants and livestock in one way or another. It's not quiet as dangerous as Catachan, but it does have dangers of its own. Then again, I suppose every world does."
She snorted. "True enough. Friendlies."
We paused at the entrance to the room a few meters behind the enemy's chokepoint, seeing Daniel and Allison at the side opposite us. I motioned to them with hand signals, explaining the plan, and they nodded. Private Tahone, however, frowned, and I decided to explain it over our internal vox.
"We'll toss some grenades, a mix of smoke and explosive, then charge into cover and catch them in between us and the rest of my unit."
She nodded, and we cooked some grenades before tossing them. Someone shouted in alarm just before they detonated, spreading smoke and shrapnel across the chokepoint. Myself and Tahone, along with Daniel and Allison, dived back down the hall as the grenades set off the traitors munitions, causing a number of explosions to consume their position. I don't know how, but myself and Tahone ended up with our arms wrapped around each other as we retreated from the explosions. After they ended, we were still wrapped around each other.
I coughed, and we slowly got up. "Alright... Let's go."
She nodded, and we kept moving. The rest of my unit, with Mackenzie and his boys protecting our rear, moved through the remains of the enemy position and rendezvoused with us outside the doors to the reactor room. "This is Boll, my unit has reached the doors to the reactor. Preparing to breach."
"This is Forge. Acknowledged, we're assaulting the traitors trying to get into the command center, we'll update you in a few minutes."
"Acknowledged." I nodded to Daniel and Allison, who gestured to Private Avaris to bring up the breaching charges. The man ran up and quickly attached them as the rest of us got into position.
"Breach!"
The doors exploded inward and we tossed some smoke grenades, using the thermals in our helmets to keep track of the traitors. Though I guess not all of them had gone completely insane as some individuals had apparently remembered how to turn on their own thermal vision, causing several of our guys to fall to lucky shots. Fortunately, we had an advantage in numbers and training, and had cleared the room inside of two minutes.
"Alright, people, lets find that bomb."
"Here!"
I turned to where Avaris and the rest of his Squad were squatting around a box with spikes sprouting off of it and what was most likely a control panel on the top side. I quickly ran over with Roxxi, Daniel, and Allison right behind me.
"Got it, bomb's disarmed!"
I looked at Avaris, who had slumped back in relief. "How much time was left?"
He looked up, meeting me in the eyes. "You don't want to know, Sir."
"Captain Ryder to ground team. We're still having trouble with this ship, tell me you guys have that station secured."
I keyed my vox. "The reactor is secure, Captain, and the bomb is disarmed."
Sergeant Forge's voice came over the vox, though he didn't sound very good. "My unit has secured the command center, but we took heavy casualties. Unfortunately, it'll take ten minutes to charge the Nova Cannon."
I frowned as an idea came to me. "Sir, permission to leave the station?"
"For what purpose, Lieutenant?"
"To give the traitors back their bomb. Captain Ryder, are there are any holes in close proximity to the enemy ship's reactor?"
He sounded slightly confused when he answered. "Yes, but what exactly are you thinking?"
In the same instant, the Sergeant's reply came with a mix of respect and incredulity. "Permission granted."
I grabbed the bomb and started hauling it to a nearby elevator. Private Tahone grabbed the other end and started helping me. "We need to take out that ship before landing any troops on the surface. This bomb could help with that."
We reached the elevator and started moving down to one of the tertiary hangers, with the rest of my unit following as Mackenzie took his to ensure the reactor room remained secure. As we did, Tahone turned to me. "I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy."
I looked at her. "So? Stay here."
She shook her head as the doors opened and we started hauling the bomb into the bay. "Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy."
Getting it into position, I nodded towards the control room. "Alright, everyone else get to the control room. The Valkyries will pick you up after I launch, go."
The others nodded and got into position, though Private Tahone kept a hand on the bomb, checking over the seals in her armour. I quietly checked over mine, though I tried to be less obvious about it.
"We're ready, Sir!" I nodded up at Allison and walked over to the emergency release, making sure my Hellgun was secured to my back in the process.
"Just one question. What if you miss?"
I looked Tahone in the eyes. "I won't."
I pulled the latch, let go, and grabbed the bomb as it flew past me into space, Private Tahone keeping a grip on it the whole way. As we did, a number of Fury Interceptors and Starhawk Bombers flew past on course for the enemy ship, firing all the way, even as a number of Valkyries entered the station to pick up the rest of my unit.
Ahead of us, the enemy ship loomed like a twisted hulk of metal, holes already torn throughout its hull from previous attacks. The Furies and Starhawks that had flown ahead of us banked away, their bombs and missiles tearing additional holes into its form as we flew past them and into the hull. I crawled forward, pressing the switch to reactivate the timer, grabbed Tahone who wrapped her arms around my waist, and we braced ourselves as we turned around before pushing off of the bomb.
In an instant, we found ourselves back in the void. Behind us, the bomb exploded, destroying the enemy vessel, and for a second I briefly considered the possibility of us burning up in the atmosphere. Then the hull of the Light loomed long enough for me to register it before we flew into one of the hangers, rolling along the floor of the bay before coming to a halt.
The Captain contacted me on the vox. "Well done, Lieutenant. Get yourself patched up and rearm, we're taking this fight to the surface."
Private Tahone took off her helmet and sighed in relief, then looked me in the eyes as I took off my own. Her eyes were a light shade of grey, and her hair seemed to lean slightly more towards a shade of ashy blonde, a very attractive combination.
"That... was fun. But can we please never do something like that ever again?"
We both laughed, and I found that hers was somewhat musical. "Sorry, I can't guarantee that. Stick with me, and you'll get used to it eventually."
We kept laughing all the way to the armory.