Frozen Tundra

Weather: Heavy Blizzard
Predicted Temperature: -67˚C

Sergeant Malicov stared blankly at the makeshift bunk above him, the strong stench of hydraulics and fuel that permeated the room robbed him of sleep. He shifted uncomfortably on the hard mattress to gaze at the chronometer above the steel bulk-head. The device blinked in bright blue letters 22:41.

Given the lack of time, the battle-group was hastily organized into converted Mammoth mining vehicles that the tech-priests and enginseers had toiled all night to revive. The gigantic vehicles were extremely slow and were not particularly well-known as luxury craft, but they were the only things big enough to transport the regiments with all their equipment unscathed across the planet’s infamous blizzard plains.

Andre crawled out from his cot and landed onto the metallic floor with a thump. Using his mag-light, the sergeant went to his locker and dressed into some drab fatigues, silently walking out into the adjacent hallway.

The passage was dimly lit by a series of red lights built into the ceiling and it was punctuated by over two dozen doorways that were nearly identical to the one Andre had just exited. He chose a direction to explore and decided to head towards the cargo bay.

Although it was unfathomably cold outside, the interior of the Mammoth was so sticky and hot that it forced him to roll up the thick sleeves of his uniform.

The narrow corridor ended in a large gate with the words ‘Cargo Bay’ in big white letters painted on the hatch. It took all of the young officer’s strength to turn the lock and push the door open.

Before him was a sight to behold.

The cargo hold was several stories high and full of shelves stacked with Imperial vehicles from wall to wall. The surplus of tanks and troop transports reminded him of a toy store on a much grander scale.

Andre walked out onto the maintenance cat-walk in awe. In his two years of service in the Guard, he had never seen the vehicles that made up his company in such a fine and uniform formation. He leaned up against the railing and let out an impressed sigh of respect.

A servitor made its way in his direction and asked in its lifeless, metallic voice, “Do you require assistance, sergeant?”

He shook his head and the servitor returned to its programmed parameters.

With his gaze moving from one vehicle to the next, Andre slowly began to walk down the remainder of the walkway, arms behind his back.

The 126th Valhallan was a combined mechanized and armored regiment. It consisted of three mechanized infantry companies, two armored companies, and a single super-heavy tank company. Each consisted of around two hundred soldiers not including support staff.

The mechanized branches of the regiment were separated into twenty squads, each with its own assigned Chimera with the company command squad housed in a Stormlord heavy APC.

As for the armored sections, the standard companies consisted of thirty tanks which ranged from the standard Leman Russ battle tank all the way to Vanquishers, Punishers, and the other variants of the revered standard tank. Usually the command tanks were a type of super-heavy tank, most commonly a Macharius-pattern Vanquisher.

The last company was the regiment’s pride and is made up of fourteen super-heavy tanks. Three Baneblades, three Shadowswords, three Hellhammers, three Baneswords, and two HQ tanks: the Baneblade Crusius, and the Shadowsword Novanator.

His company’s Stormlord came up, appropriately, next to his sanctioned Chimera. The Verwoesten was painted in a blocky white, black, and blue pattern. Andre took several minutes to admire the Vulcan mega-bolter, its barrels stained black after years of use.

On Cassadore, Andre had seen the mega-bolter fire and wished to never be on the receiving end of such a devastating weapon. No wonder the tank earned the name ‘destroy’ in one of Valhalla’s dialects.

He silently continued on.

The young officer must’ve been so absorbed in awe that several minutes later he found himself in a heap on the cat-walk with some other trooper.

Andre hastily got up for fear of the person he fell into was a ranking officer, but he took one quick glance at the uniform to a see a single bar across the arm. Whoever it was, was just a private.

Somewhat irritated, the sergeant raised an eyebrow and commanded the soldier to stand at attention.

With some difficulty the soldier quickly saluted him and stood rigidly according to his command.

Andre found the trooper to be quite a spectacle.

From her looks, she was a brand new young soldier. Her uniform appeared to be two times too big for her body; the sleeves of her fatigues were so long that it gave her the appearance that she lacked hands.

Her helmet was nearly identical. The standard-issue silver Valhallan helmet was oversized to the point that it covered her eyes.

Obviously she couldn’t see him, but was too nervous to adjust her headgear.

Andre did his best not to chuckle and said in the most serious voice he could muster, “Watch where you’re walking next time, private.”

She nodded, the helmet wobbling up and down as she did.

In the darkness, Andre strained his eyes to read the name sewn onto the uniform, “Well, Private Scarbrough, what’re you doing out here in the middle of the night and so far away from the troop quarters?”

Private Scarbrough stuttered slightly, “I – um – I got lost...”

Andre let out a small chuckle, “You got lost? Did I hear you correctly?”

“I was on the way to –”

The sergeant kindly placed a hand on her shoulder with a small smile on his face, “No need to give me the details.” Andre figured that she would give him some hopeless explanation only a true greenie could come up with, “I’ll help you get back to where you’re supposed to be. What squad are you a member of?”

As he started to walk, she fell in step behind him, “I’m a rifleman for Squad Nine.”

“Ah, Squad Nine!” Andre opened the door he had entered from. “Mina and I go back a long time. We were members of the same conscript squad.” He saw her re-adjust the helmet that sat loosely on her head. “What’s your full name, by the way, Private?”

The young trooper turned and saluted him, the cuff of her long sleeve flopping idly in her face as she did so, “Private First Class Hannah Nicole Scarbrough, sir!”

He curbed her onward, “No need to call me ‘sir,’ Hannah. The battlefield is too harsh for such ridiculous formalities. Where exactly are you from, in regards to Valhalla?”

Again, she pushed her helmet out of her eyes, “I’m from Hive Tarsus, attended the Guard academy there too.”

“Tarsus,” Andre sighed, “The heart of the planet’s manufacturing ring. As fate would have it, I’m from Tarsus too. I worked in an ammunition production facility, if I’m not mistaken, in the sector called Brivana.”

“That’s where the academy is! It wouldn’t surprise me if an ammo manufactorium was nearby.” Hannah responded smiling. “Did you go to the academy too?”

“Nope.” Andre said shaking his head, “I was conscripted into a white-shield battalion, trained in two weeks, and then thrown directly into the fray. Talk about a true trial by fire.” He shuddered at the thought.

“How old were you when you got drafted?”

They came up to a hatch marked ‘nine’ and he opened it up for her, “I was seventeen.”

“Wow...” She gazed at him in awe.

Mina appeared in the doorway with a yawn, “Andre... What’re you doing here?”

He shrugged, “Just returning a little lost lamb.” The sergeant gently pushed Hannah into the room. “I ran into her wandering around the cargo bay with a rather confused look.”

The fellow sergeant nodded slowly, it was apparent that she comprehended only half of the words he had said. “Ok, well, thanks...” Mina tried to wipe the sleepiness out of her eyes. “I think you should get back to bed... You know we’re arriving in six hours.”

“Yeah, I know.” Andre turned to leave. “You got your girls ready?”

She mumbled what he thought was a ‘yes,’ but he couldn’t quite understand her. The bulkhead door closed with a quiet creak behind him and he made his way back to his squad’s bunk room.

Hmm, that Private, He sat for several minutes on his cot, Young and naïve. She’ll be lucky to live... But there’s just something about her... Andre wiped a small bead of sweat that was forming on his forehead with the back of his hand. The image of Private Scarbrough popped into his head and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

Her first trial by fire...

Sadly though, Andre felt this battle would break her more than make her.
________________________________________
Hannah eased her way onto her bunk; her helmet fell off her head as she did so, hitting the metallic floor with a loud clunk. She cursed her clumsiness and reached down to get it, hoping that she hadn’t awoken any of her fellow troopers. Their continued snores were reassuring.

Mina gently pushed Hannah’s bunk to get her attention; she was below the young private.
“What were you doing out this late?”

“I was going to the bathroom.”

“How’d you end up in the cargo bay?”

Hannah shrugged although she knew Mina couldn’t see her, “I don’t know... These hallways are confusing. I’m too used to remaining in the same spot for long periods of time, so I get lost easily.”

“That’s not good...”

“I know,” Hannah sighed, “I’m trying to fix it, but obviously I haven’t been quite successful.”

“I’ll just have to keep a sharp eye on you... It wouldn’t do well for you to get lost in the middle of a battle.”

Mina was right and Hannah knew it. That would be the worst thing to happen to her. Then her mind drifted to that kind sergeant who helped her find her way instead of yelling at her like all the others she had the misfortune of running into.

“Hey, Mina? That sergeant, Andre, he said you and him went back a long way. What did he mean by that?”

Her sergeant sighed tiredly. “Well, we’ve been serving together for awhile. That’s all.”

“Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I came from a small settlement on the outskirts of Hive Kruger. They conscripted me when they formed the 126th. Consider yourself lucky, Hannah, white-shield battalions are not fun.”

She’d heard about them at the academy a couple of times. ‘Meat shields’ is what her instructor had said. Since white-shields had the minimum amount of training, they were considered expendable by high command. They didn’t have experience or battle prowess, so what’s the point in keeping them?

But then again her instructor said one other thing: Those soldiers that come out of white-shields. Those who survive and endure are usually tough, hard asses. Most get angry all the time because they’re experiences are... brutal, to say the least. So be careful whenever you’re around them during a battle. They might go crazy.

“So, Andre was a white-shield?”

“Yep, just like me. He had the shit-end of the stick though. Got transferred four times cuz his squads kept getting wiped out and he happened to be the one of the few survivors, if any, every time.” Mina sighed. “Then he joined the squad I was part of, and things, well, they kinda changed. A lot of people still died. Good people.”

“How is he in, you know, combat?”

“Oh, by the Emperor’s name, he’s nuts!” The sergeant responded, “We don’t call him ‘the Bear of Brivana’ for nothing!”

“The Bear of Brivana?” Hannah thought out loud as she placed her helmet onto the small shelf that was attached to the wall a few centimeters from her head.

“Yeah, he got that name when he was given a chainsword.” Mina chuckled quietly. “Until then, he was known as a marksman. When he got that sword, everyone’s opinion changed and we started calling his sword the Bear’s claw and him the Bear.”

“What do you mean by him being ‘nuts’? He seems like such a nice guy.”

“Don’t get me wrong about him! Andre’s a nice guy and all, you just gotta watch out when you’re near him in a battle. Crazy bastard, that man.” Mina let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Doesn’t talk much though, keeps to himself most of the time. That’s really why most of the other girls don’t like him.”

“What do you mean?” Hannah looked under her bunk to see Mina.

Mina slightly opened one of her eyes to see her soldier’s head and hair hanging from the bunk above her, “You really are too green...” She snuggled herself into the nearby pillow. “A lot of the girls wanted to get him in a cot, but he was never really into that kind of stuff.”

“Oh,” Hannah rolled back onto her spot. “That’s what you meant...”

“Get some sleep, Hannah.” The sergeant yawned. “You are really going to need it.”

A still quiet ensued in which Hannah remained awake despite her best efforts to get some rest. Her mind continuously darted from Andre, to Mina, to her mother back home. Everything seemed so sudden and different from her life back on Valhalla.

The young private knew she had to adapt soon if she wanted to live to see another day. Although she’d been lucky and missed the draft, life as a standard soldier was just as hard as that of a white-shield.

Just a little safer...

Being a regular meant that you weren’t thrown out as a meat-shield. Or regarded as useless. Or shot when someone calls for a retreat and the commissar decided to summarily execute the closest soldier.

Then Hannah decided that being a regular was a lot better than being a white-shield and believed that debating on that fact was useless. She shifted in her bunk into a more comfortable position.

They were arriving in a couple of hours and her first battle would come in due time. She was unbelievably nervous. She’d never shot anyone before, as a matter of fact she’d never shot anything before in her life.

How was she going to pull this off...?

Training wasn’t the minimum, but she felt it wasn’t exactly enough to prepare herself. Shooting a lasgun for her first time was a rather frightening experience. If she was scared of that, how would she feel when she was finally getting shot at? Would she panic in fear?

No... She couldn’t do that... It would be an embarrassment regarding the Imperial Guard.

Hannah had to remain strong and she had to persevere. This was her chance to prove herself in her own trial by fire.
________________________________________
Andre had a thick scarf wrapped around his face and his helmet sat snugly on his head. The image of Hannah popped into his head once again and he chuckled as he remembered how her large helmet wobbled on top of her head.

Unlike Durham, Winiske was somewhat occupied. Like many of the other towns that dotted the outskirts of the hive, Winiske was a resource site built around a metal mine from which thousands of workers toiled. It was like its sister cities. Sarasita was a town formed around fuel synthesis while Dothen was focused on logging and clearing forests.

The young sergeant couldn’t help but feel bad for these people, just simple honest workers attempting to earn a stable living. Why choose such innocents to stage an attack?

He ushered his ten man squad into their Chimera. The rear door closed, and the vehicle began to move.

The interior of the APC was quiet and dimly lit. The red lights built into the floor gave the troopers he commanded an eerie look about them.

They all sat rigidly in their standard uniforms. Scarves and helmets covered their faces, making them distinguishable only by the names sewn onto their uniforms and overcoats.

The fast-moving transport came to a stop, and the rear-access hatch fell open with a loud thump of metal on rockcrete. Andre was the first to step out and gaze at the building they’d be staying in for the majority of their time on Valetron.

It was a large apartment building; it’s once sharp corners plummeted smooth by the winds and snows of the planet’s cold climate. The structure was old and decrepit. It was obvious that it hadn’t seen human life for decades.

Andre’s squad, Number Thirteen, was one of the latter forces to enter the building. Many of the others had already arrived and were setting up their temporary living quarters. He led his troops to the third floor and discovered that they’d be sharing the floor with only one other group: Squad Nine.

Again Andre chuckled to himself. Of course, as fate would have it.

By the light of a small ion-heater, Sergeant Malicov proceeded to write another entry into his journal.

The battle was drawing ever closer.

Mina sat next to him, warming her hands over the small source of heat, “Andre, I didn’t get a chance to actually thank you for returning Hannah to me that night. She’s kind of a noob trooper.”

He looked up with a small chuckle, “So I discovered... Getting lost in your own vehicle is no easy feat after all!”

She smiled at him, “Yeah... Do you think she’ll last the campaign?”

“I’m not one to answer that. If the God-Emperor wants her to, she will. If not, then, that’s too bad. But if you want my opinion.” He took a sip of amasec from a nearby canteen. “I don’t think she’ll survive the first engagement.”

“Hey, we haven’t seen her run yet.” The fellow sergeant responded, looking up at him, “If you looked at us when we were white-shields on Cassadore, you wouldn’t have expected us to survive! But look at us, the only survivors from three different squads of twenty. What are the odds?”

Andre shrugged and continued to write. “You just asked for my opinion and I said that the God-Emperor will protect her if he sees that she has a future.”

Several minutes of silence ensued. It was broken only by Jay Austerblum, Squad Thirteen’s special weapons trooper, when he accidently dropped several canisters of pyrum petrol fuel, he let out a relieved sigh when they failed to ignite. “Uh, sorry...”

“You know, she looks at us as some type of hero.” The female sergeant vigorously rubbed her hands together. “I don’t feel at all like a hero though. Do you?”

He paused and looked up at her. Shutting the journal, he let out a long, drawn out sigh. “Are you kidding me? I’ve never felt like any hero, just some regular doing his job by killing whatever they tell me to kill. Believe me, I’m no Chenkov or Yarrick.”

“I feel the same way. I’m just glad we’re not fighting ‘nids.”

“I’m not glad that we’re fighting chaos space marines. Only the Emperor knows what the hell they can come up with...”

Vasily soon joined them, placing a case of krak missiles on his lap as he sat down.

“Are they all accounted for, Vasily?” Andre asked mechanically looking at the heavy weapons operator.

“Yes, sir. All ten of us are accounted for and ready to run the gauntlet.” He examined one of the missiles. “If there will even be a gauntlet...”

Mina shrugged. “I doubt it. Given the amount of tanks and artillery we’re fielding, it’s more of a hellstorm then a gauntlet. Us regular infantry are going to get mown down.”

Andre chuckled sarcastically. “We won’t even get that chance! We won’t be mown down! We’ll be run over! We’re fighting the Iron Warriors, for veth’s sake! It’ll be a freaking tank party!”

Vasily nodded in agreement. “When we hear that first artillery shell, the shit is really gonna hit the fan.”

“Well,” Mina got up, presumably to return to her squad mates, “We’re just gonna have to do what we were trained to do: Fight or die.”
________________________________________
Hannah sat quietly in the corner of the large room her squad was taking residence and was disassembling her lasgun by the light of a small lantern. Talila was sitting nearby performing the same procedure on her Valhallan Mk. III pattern boltgun.

“You nervous, Hannah?” Talila asked as she ran a cleaning tube through her barrel, “It’s okay to be nervous.”

The young private sighed tiredly. “I’m nervous... And that’s putting it mildly! I can’t sleep, I’m so stressed out!”

Talila chuckled, “Don’t worry. When you get that adrenaline pumping and that instinct of survival going, you’ll be asleep in no time. Just focus on staying alive.”

Oh... That was comforting. And staying alive is supposed to be easy? Hannah was knocked out of her trance when Talila slammed her bolt shut with a loud click. The private observed her superior intently.

Talila gently reassembled her weapon with a loud sigh.

The door to the room opened and Mina entered quietly.

About half of the squad was asleep. Kristof was sitting up against a nearby wall, his helmet pulled over his eyes. His comrade in arms, Josef, was asleep on the floor using the autocannon as a pillow. She silently wondered how comfortable he was.

Alisa’s sniper rifle sat idly in her lap, a small smoke trail drifted off of the end of her lho stick.

Alexa and Cally were playing a friendly game of roland, a type of card game, while Marie was out on a sleeping bag next to them.

Mina entered their makeshift kitchen and started a small ion-stove on top of which she placed a small kettle of frozen water. It would be awhile before it would start to boil, so the sergeant found a place next to Talila and Hannah and gently sat herself down next to them.

Holding her bolt pistol next to the lantern, she disassembled it to clean it.

The three of them sat quietly for several minutes.

There were only several sounds that interrupted them: the constant snowy windstorm would usually erupt into an orchestra of loud and strong winds which was occasionally accompanied by an Imperial vehicle that would zoom by somewhere in the streets below.

Hannah’s uneasiness continued to grow.

Mina looked up at her fellow trooper with a small smile. “How are you feeling? Better I hope?”

Hannah nodded slowly. She picked up her now reassembled lasgun and held it tightly against her chest like a mother would a new-born babe.

The sergeant turned back to her pistol. “We’ve gotten reports that the Iron Warriors are beginning to mobilize in Sarasita. You may be able see your first battle as early as tomorrow. Make sure you’re ready for it.”

Again, the young private nodded without a word.

“You’ll be fine.” Mina said as she pulled the bolt in an out to make sure it was well oiled. “You’ve got the spunk. Just stick with me and you’ll be okay.”

Another eerie silence followed before a small beeping noise indicated that the kettle was boiling. Mina rose and prepared herself a cup of caffeine, turning to Talila and Hannah asking if they would like a cup. Both of them declined.

Mina sat back down and took a long sip. She knew that if she didn’t drink it fast that it would get cold easily, and possibly even freeze. “Hannah, I want you to know this alright? If anything happens to me or the rest of the squad, find Andre. He’ll take care of you. He’s kinda been my guardian for the past two years. I’d probably be dead if it weren’t for him.”

Talila leaned her boltgun up against the wall. “I always wondered why the Bear of Brivana was so protective of you.”

“We’ve been serving together since the beginning. We look at each other as siblings, brother and sister.”

“But that still doesn’t explain completely.”

“We’re the only two survivors of the two hundred man white-shield battalion we were conscripted into. All of our friends, the ones we made in training died. He’s all the I have left of home. Valhalla.”

Hannah looked up. “And he feels the same way.”