Post by deadmansinging on Nov 27, 2013 5:44:31 GMT 10
Ok so before I post this I'm first going to say that I really hope this site kicks off, and I'd be glad to help in anyway I can. Secondly a little back story on this piece. I wrote this story a year ago as backstory for my own little Imperial Guard regiment that I created. But I'll get into that later. This story was originally called "Into The Breach" and was posted on FanFiction.com where it got quite a good reception, make of that what you will. I initially intended this piece to be a longer story, probably the size of a Novella, but I didn't like the direction it was heading in as the rest of the story didn't have the same tone as this first part, and that coupled with internet and computer problems made me abandon the project. However, I am still very proud of this first part, and I think it works much better by it's self as it's own short story. So I give you;
"The Hellrazors"
Armand knew this feeling. This was the feeling he got before every mission. It was a crude mixture of fear, excitement and woe. As he and his squad descended to the planet below in the Valkyrie, he knew that this mission would end like most of the others did, he being one of the few survivors. Armand is part of a Veteran Strike Unit known only as “The Hellrazors” whose specialty is suicide missions.
The soldiers in the unit were chosen by their superior officers for displaying acts of valor or achievement on the battlefield. Armand had fought and survived myriad campaigns and served under some of the most famous and notorious Imperial Commanders. He would have made Colonel; but Armand was known to disobey direct orders and to do whatever it took to get the objective complete with as many of his men alive as possible.
This of course, was not popular with most Imperial commanders, and had he have been any other soldier, he would have been shot many years ago. But his superiors were amazed by the fact that he was able to complete high risk missions without death or serious injury. It was this that got him chosen for the Hellrazors, his ability to survive. He was put in command of his own squad of Guardsmen of the Hellrazors, and told to complete his missions by any means necessary.
His Valkyrie was reaching its destination. He and his squad weren’t briefed on the mission, and were told that they would receive briefing once they landed, as they were accustomed.
“Alright men” He announced, “You know the drill, get your gear ready, we have briefing in 3”. His men got prepared and awaited landing.
“Attention! We are coming into landing now. T-minus 10 seconds” The pilot stated through the Intercom.
“Hail to the Emperor, and Raise Hell”.
The dropship came to a landing, its doors giving out a mechanical squeal as they opened. Armand could see a man on the landing pad, dressed in carapace armor, and equipped with a chainsword and boltpistol. Armand knew this was the Commanding officer.
“Sergeant Camille Armand?” The officer asked to Armand and his squad as they stepped out of the Valkyrie.
“You called Sir?” He answered.
“Good, I’m Lieutenant Cato. I’m the commander officer on this front, I asked for your squad personally, I’ve been told to brief you” the officer explained.
“Before you do that sir, there’s one thing I should let you know” Armand said. “You should know that I get things done. But I get things done my way. Not yours. If that’s a problem tell me now, and we will leave, if not, you put the guns in our hands, you point as in the right direction and you get the bloody hell out of our way. Do I make myself clear Sir?” He continued.
“Perfectly Sergeant, I was given this lecture by your CO Sergeant. I know how you like to do your job” Cato answered. “Now, if I may, can he get on with the briefing?” He asked rhetorically. “We’ve been fighting the Orks on all fronts. It’s a full-scale Waaagh! My platoon and I have been ordered to recapture a Manufactorum from the enemy, but the Greenskins have us pinned with their artillery they have up on the hills to the north. I need to and your squad to take out those guns. Can you do that?” Cato ordered swiftly.
“Of course we can, that’s what we do. We’ve faced worse, and we’ve done this one a hundred times!” Armand answered with pride in his voice. “Alright men, time to earn our keep. We’ve got Greenskins we’ve got to kill, and guns we’ve got to blow up. You know the drill, Raise Hell!” He ordered to his men.
“One other thing Sergeant, both sides have resorted to trench warfare. That means the Orks too.” The Lieutenant said to Armand.
“Nothing we can’t handle Sir, we’re always equipped with Shotguns and Frag Grenades. We’ll clear em’ out!”
“You’ll need this Sergeant” Cato said, handing Armand four demolition charges. Armand and his squad got into their Valkyrie and got ready for the battle a head.
“Pilot, we need you to drop us as close to that Ork artillery battery as possible.”
“Sir, that’s insane!” The pilot answered over the intercom.
“You were told this before you got assigned to my squad, I need my pilots to be insane, the Hellrazors specialize in suicide missions. You hear that? Suicide missions! We’re not going to all sit down and have a tea party! Now are you going to take us there, or am I going to have to fly this piece of junk myself?”
“That won’t be necessary Sir! I’ll do it sir!” The pilot replied in a fearful tone.
“That’s what I thought”. The Valkyrie ascended into the sky and flew towards its objective furiously. The Hellrazors rocked and shook inside the ship. As it went in for a landing, it came under fire from Ork Big Shootas.
“Sir, we’re coming in hot!” The pilot exclaimed.
“We’ll be fine Pilot. Just stay calm! And everything will be okay! I’ve been on so many combat drops I’ve lost count” Assured Armand as the Valkyrie came to a sudden and abrupt landing. The screech of the doors opening was like the thunder before a tempest, as the open door let the screams and sounds of war spill into the ship.
“Hellrazors, Raise Hell!” Armand cried as he and his squad charged out of the Valkyrie firing their weapons.
As Valkyrie departed, it was shot down in midair by an Ork Rockkit. Armand and his squad took cover as the flaming wreckage smashed into the ground, barely missing them. They got their bearings and started to work their way up from the base of the hill where they landed.
“Hellrazors, do what I tell you, and you will make it back alive, I promise you that. See that?” Armand asked while pointing at the flaming wreak that was once a Valkyrie. “That means we have no evac. We have to kill them all now, and we have to destroy those guns.”
They made their way up the hill, using whatever cover they could to protect them from the Big Shootas up the hill. They saw a small contingent of Orks entrenched a few meters away from them and opened fire. The Orks fired back. The air was filled with Flashes of red Lasgun fire and yellow bullet traces. Armand ordered his men to prepare their Shotguns and charge the Trench. Before they began their advance, he threw a Frag grenade into the Trench, killing many Orks and scattering the survivors. He cried out before jumping into the Trench, “Raise Hell!”
The Guardsmen followed behind him, firing their shotguns at anything with green skin. The Orks attempted to run out of the trench to regroup, but The Hellrazors found them easy pickings, as if they were hunting geese.
“Outstanding men, but we’re not half way done yet. We still need to advance this hill. Watch your spacing and use cover. I’m not going to lose my entire squad to a single mortar round or grenade” Armand ordered to his men.
The Hellrazors made their way up the hill, repeating what they did for the first trench with the others, clearing them out one by one, scattering the Orks with the tactical use of a Frag grenade. They were making good progress. They suffered no casualties until they reached the gun battery after they had cleared the final trench. They came upon the battery. It was heavily defended by machine gun towers and barricades. There were Loota boyz guarding the perimeter with their big shootas.
Armand couldn’t see any minefields, but he could see his objective, the looted Basilisks, and an Ork Big Mek. He only assumed it was the Ork in command of the battery. The path towards the battery had little to no cover.
“Alright men, the objective is dead ahead” He said to his men. “They have heavy machine guns, barricades and possibly mine fields. The Greenskins don’t want us to destroy those guns. To get up there we are going to have to run in ; zig-zag, and I don’t want everyone to run up there single file, space up, make yourself harder to shoot. Ork guns are inaccurate and grots are terrible shots. And don’t do anything until I say so! Understood?”
They sprinted up the path in a zig-zag, they were spaced up well, and Armand was proud of his men, but it wasn’t good enough. The Orks shot down about 4 of his men before they could make it to the barricade, and another one was blasted away when an Ork loota put his gun through a hole in the barricade and fired into him at point blank range. Armand managed to kill it, but it was too late.
You see, Armand wasn’t like most Imperial Officers, commissioned or non-commissioned, he cared about his men. While most Imperial Officers would see hundreds or thousands of dead Guardsmen as being minor casualties, Armand never saw any fatalities as being minor casualties. Armand always preferred bleeding in the trenches with his men, rather than watching and commanding battles from the safety of a battleship in orbit.
“Damn it! We’re losing men!” Armand had frustration and woe in his voice. “Everybody get down, we’re going to crawl for that opening in the wall!”
They got on their stomachs and crawled on the ground through the mud, making their way towards the opening in the barricade where they could get through. Armand’s men were in front of him, moving quickly several of them made it into the opening. But Armand saw the last thing he wanted to see, a mine right in the path of his men. He screamed out “MINE!” but it was too late, the mine went off, annihilating those near it. He did however, manage to pull on of his men back away from the explosion, but he had shrapnel stuck in his leg.
“Wait here, I’ll get these Greenskin bastards! Then I’ll come back for you! I promise. I never break my promises!” Armand assured the younger Guardsmen. It was then that he remembered that this solder was only just drafted to his unit earlier that day, and he hadn’t had time to catch his name.
“You’re new to this unit aren’t you, kid?” He asked him.
“Yeah, that’s right Sir.” The guardsmen said with much pain present in his voice.
“What’s your name?”
“Augustus, Sir! Ow! Private Boni Augustus!” Replied the Guardsman
“Well you listen hear Augustus, I never break a promise. I’ll be back, but I have to destroy those guns. Stay here, I’ll keep the Greenskins off your back, but stay alert, there could be some we missed” He said assuring Augustus.
“Ow! Roger that Sir!” Augustus replied.
Armand made his way into the encampment. The Grots on the Machine Gun turrets turned around and began to fire at him. Armand took cover behind a wall. He aimed his Lasgun at a nearby fuel tank and prepared to fire. Armand was a crack shot, one of the best in The Hellrazors, and always prepared a Rifle to a Sword and Pistol. However, he is also well known for his swordsmanship. He fired at the fuel tank. A direct hit, it blew up destroying the Machine Gun towers, and giving him free passage past where the Artillery guns were.
He was running low on ammo for both his Lasgun and Shotgun. He prepared for his Bolt pistol and took a choppa from the dead body of a nearby Ork boy. He knew that he still had at least an Ork Big Mek to kill before he could even get close to the Basilisks. He followed the path up towards the guns, killing what few Ork boys were left. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, came the Big Mek.
“YER KILLED MAH BOYZ YOU DID” Exclaimed the Ork. “YER NOT SO SQUISHY FOR A HUMIE! BUT YER NOT GONNA GET ME BIG GUNS. I NEED DEM TO KILL DA OTHER IMPERIAL BOYZ. I’LL KILL YER DEN PUT YER HEAD ON DIS ERE POINTY STICK! DEN MAYBE I’LL GET SUM RESPECT FROM SOMEFING OTHER DEN A GROT!”
The Ork swung his power claw at Armand. Armand ducked. He had done this before. He slid between the Orks legs and jumped on his back. Stabbing the choopa into the Ork, he held on to it like it was a handle. He dropped a grenade into an opening in the Orks armor and jumped off, rolling away.
“WATS DIS? YER GIVIN’ UP? I WAS JUST GETTING’ STARTED WIF YOU!” The Ork said before his torso exploded in a bloody mess.
With no more Orks to stop him, Armand finally made it to the Basilisks. He slaughtered the Orks manning the guns and armed the demolition charges that the Lieutenant had given him. He walked back down towards where Augustus as still lying, detonating the charges while he walked.
“Are you alright Trooper?” He said to Augustus.
“I’ve been better Sir.” Augustus replied. Armand made his way towards to body of his dead communications officer who’s Vox Caster was still intact.
“Sergeant Armand to Lieutenant Cato, Lieutenant Cato please respond” He asked over the Vox.
“Sergeant this is Lieutenant Cato, go ahead” Cato responded.
“I have destroyed the guns, but I have 8 men down and 1 wounded and our ride is gone. I request evac immediately!” Armand pleaded.
“Roger that Sergeant, dispatching a Valkyrie with a Medic onboard now. I’ll await your arrival with bated breath.”
Armand proceeded to nurse Augustus’s leg while he waited for the dropship.
“Sir, I thought you wouldn’t come back” Augustus said to Armand with relief.
“What did I tell you Augustus? I never break my promises”
The soldiers in the unit were chosen by their superior officers for displaying acts of valor or achievement on the battlefield. Armand had fought and survived myriad campaigns and served under some of the most famous and notorious Imperial Commanders. He would have made Colonel; but Armand was known to disobey direct orders and to do whatever it took to get the objective complete with as many of his men alive as possible.
This of course, was not popular with most Imperial commanders, and had he have been any other soldier, he would have been shot many years ago. But his superiors were amazed by the fact that he was able to complete high risk missions without death or serious injury. It was this that got him chosen for the Hellrazors, his ability to survive. He was put in command of his own squad of Guardsmen of the Hellrazors, and told to complete his missions by any means necessary.
His Valkyrie was reaching its destination. He and his squad weren’t briefed on the mission, and were told that they would receive briefing once they landed, as they were accustomed.
“Alright men” He announced, “You know the drill, get your gear ready, we have briefing in 3”. His men got prepared and awaited landing.
“Attention! We are coming into landing now. T-minus 10 seconds” The pilot stated through the Intercom.
“Hail to the Emperor, and Raise Hell”.
The dropship came to a landing, its doors giving out a mechanical squeal as they opened. Armand could see a man on the landing pad, dressed in carapace armor, and equipped with a chainsword and boltpistol. Armand knew this was the Commanding officer.
“Sergeant Camille Armand?” The officer asked to Armand and his squad as they stepped out of the Valkyrie.
“You called Sir?” He answered.
“Good, I’m Lieutenant Cato. I’m the commander officer on this front, I asked for your squad personally, I’ve been told to brief you” the officer explained.
“Before you do that sir, there’s one thing I should let you know” Armand said. “You should know that I get things done. But I get things done my way. Not yours. If that’s a problem tell me now, and we will leave, if not, you put the guns in our hands, you point as in the right direction and you get the bloody hell out of our way. Do I make myself clear Sir?” He continued.
“Perfectly Sergeant, I was given this lecture by your CO Sergeant. I know how you like to do your job” Cato answered. “Now, if I may, can he get on with the briefing?” He asked rhetorically. “We’ve been fighting the Orks on all fronts. It’s a full-scale Waaagh! My platoon and I have been ordered to recapture a Manufactorum from the enemy, but the Greenskins have us pinned with their artillery they have up on the hills to the north. I need to and your squad to take out those guns. Can you do that?” Cato ordered swiftly.
“Of course we can, that’s what we do. We’ve faced worse, and we’ve done this one a hundred times!” Armand answered with pride in his voice. “Alright men, time to earn our keep. We’ve got Greenskins we’ve got to kill, and guns we’ve got to blow up. You know the drill, Raise Hell!” He ordered to his men.
“One other thing Sergeant, both sides have resorted to trench warfare. That means the Orks too.” The Lieutenant said to Armand.
“Nothing we can’t handle Sir, we’re always equipped with Shotguns and Frag Grenades. We’ll clear em’ out!”
“You’ll need this Sergeant” Cato said, handing Armand four demolition charges. Armand and his squad got into their Valkyrie and got ready for the battle a head.
“Pilot, we need you to drop us as close to that Ork artillery battery as possible.”
“Sir, that’s insane!” The pilot answered over the intercom.
“You were told this before you got assigned to my squad, I need my pilots to be insane, the Hellrazors specialize in suicide missions. You hear that? Suicide missions! We’re not going to all sit down and have a tea party! Now are you going to take us there, or am I going to have to fly this piece of junk myself?”
“That won’t be necessary Sir! I’ll do it sir!” The pilot replied in a fearful tone.
“That’s what I thought”. The Valkyrie ascended into the sky and flew towards its objective furiously. The Hellrazors rocked and shook inside the ship. As it went in for a landing, it came under fire from Ork Big Shootas.
“Sir, we’re coming in hot!” The pilot exclaimed.
“We’ll be fine Pilot. Just stay calm! And everything will be okay! I’ve been on so many combat drops I’ve lost count” Assured Armand as the Valkyrie came to a sudden and abrupt landing. The screech of the doors opening was like the thunder before a tempest, as the open door let the screams and sounds of war spill into the ship.
“Hellrazors, Raise Hell!” Armand cried as he and his squad charged out of the Valkyrie firing their weapons.
As Valkyrie departed, it was shot down in midair by an Ork Rockkit. Armand and his squad took cover as the flaming wreckage smashed into the ground, barely missing them. They got their bearings and started to work their way up from the base of the hill where they landed.
“Hellrazors, do what I tell you, and you will make it back alive, I promise you that. See that?” Armand asked while pointing at the flaming wreak that was once a Valkyrie. “That means we have no evac. We have to kill them all now, and we have to destroy those guns.”
They made their way up the hill, using whatever cover they could to protect them from the Big Shootas up the hill. They saw a small contingent of Orks entrenched a few meters away from them and opened fire. The Orks fired back. The air was filled with Flashes of red Lasgun fire and yellow bullet traces. Armand ordered his men to prepare their Shotguns and charge the Trench. Before they began their advance, he threw a Frag grenade into the Trench, killing many Orks and scattering the survivors. He cried out before jumping into the Trench, “Raise Hell!”
The Guardsmen followed behind him, firing their shotguns at anything with green skin. The Orks attempted to run out of the trench to regroup, but The Hellrazors found them easy pickings, as if they were hunting geese.
“Outstanding men, but we’re not half way done yet. We still need to advance this hill. Watch your spacing and use cover. I’m not going to lose my entire squad to a single mortar round or grenade” Armand ordered to his men.
The Hellrazors made their way up the hill, repeating what they did for the first trench with the others, clearing them out one by one, scattering the Orks with the tactical use of a Frag grenade. They were making good progress. They suffered no casualties until they reached the gun battery after they had cleared the final trench. They came upon the battery. It was heavily defended by machine gun towers and barricades. There were Loota boyz guarding the perimeter with their big shootas.
Armand couldn’t see any minefields, but he could see his objective, the looted Basilisks, and an Ork Big Mek. He only assumed it was the Ork in command of the battery. The path towards the battery had little to no cover.
“Alright men, the objective is dead ahead” He said to his men. “They have heavy machine guns, barricades and possibly mine fields. The Greenskins don’t want us to destroy those guns. To get up there we are going to have to run in ; zig-zag, and I don’t want everyone to run up there single file, space up, make yourself harder to shoot. Ork guns are inaccurate and grots are terrible shots. And don’t do anything until I say so! Understood?”
They sprinted up the path in a zig-zag, they were spaced up well, and Armand was proud of his men, but it wasn’t good enough. The Orks shot down about 4 of his men before they could make it to the barricade, and another one was blasted away when an Ork loota put his gun through a hole in the barricade and fired into him at point blank range. Armand managed to kill it, but it was too late.
You see, Armand wasn’t like most Imperial Officers, commissioned or non-commissioned, he cared about his men. While most Imperial Officers would see hundreds or thousands of dead Guardsmen as being minor casualties, Armand never saw any fatalities as being minor casualties. Armand always preferred bleeding in the trenches with his men, rather than watching and commanding battles from the safety of a battleship in orbit.
“Damn it! We’re losing men!” Armand had frustration and woe in his voice. “Everybody get down, we’re going to crawl for that opening in the wall!”
They got on their stomachs and crawled on the ground through the mud, making their way towards the opening in the barricade where they could get through. Armand’s men were in front of him, moving quickly several of them made it into the opening. But Armand saw the last thing he wanted to see, a mine right in the path of his men. He screamed out “MINE!” but it was too late, the mine went off, annihilating those near it. He did however, manage to pull on of his men back away from the explosion, but he had shrapnel stuck in his leg.
“Wait here, I’ll get these Greenskin bastards! Then I’ll come back for you! I promise. I never break my promises!” Armand assured the younger Guardsmen. It was then that he remembered that this solder was only just drafted to his unit earlier that day, and he hadn’t had time to catch his name.
“You’re new to this unit aren’t you, kid?” He asked him.
“Yeah, that’s right Sir.” The guardsmen said with much pain present in his voice.
“What’s your name?”
“Augustus, Sir! Ow! Private Boni Augustus!” Replied the Guardsman
“Well you listen hear Augustus, I never break a promise. I’ll be back, but I have to destroy those guns. Stay here, I’ll keep the Greenskins off your back, but stay alert, there could be some we missed” He said assuring Augustus.
“Ow! Roger that Sir!” Augustus replied.
Armand made his way into the encampment. The Grots on the Machine Gun turrets turned around and began to fire at him. Armand took cover behind a wall. He aimed his Lasgun at a nearby fuel tank and prepared to fire. Armand was a crack shot, one of the best in The Hellrazors, and always prepared a Rifle to a Sword and Pistol. However, he is also well known for his swordsmanship. He fired at the fuel tank. A direct hit, it blew up destroying the Machine Gun towers, and giving him free passage past where the Artillery guns were.
He was running low on ammo for both his Lasgun and Shotgun. He prepared for his Bolt pistol and took a choppa from the dead body of a nearby Ork boy. He knew that he still had at least an Ork Big Mek to kill before he could even get close to the Basilisks. He followed the path up towards the guns, killing what few Ork boys were left. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, came the Big Mek.
“YER KILLED MAH BOYZ YOU DID” Exclaimed the Ork. “YER NOT SO SQUISHY FOR A HUMIE! BUT YER NOT GONNA GET ME BIG GUNS. I NEED DEM TO KILL DA OTHER IMPERIAL BOYZ. I’LL KILL YER DEN PUT YER HEAD ON DIS ERE POINTY STICK! DEN MAYBE I’LL GET SUM RESPECT FROM SOMEFING OTHER DEN A GROT!”
The Ork swung his power claw at Armand. Armand ducked. He had done this before. He slid between the Orks legs and jumped on his back. Stabbing the choopa into the Ork, he held on to it like it was a handle. He dropped a grenade into an opening in the Orks armor and jumped off, rolling away.
“WATS DIS? YER GIVIN’ UP? I WAS JUST GETTING’ STARTED WIF YOU!” The Ork said before his torso exploded in a bloody mess.
With no more Orks to stop him, Armand finally made it to the Basilisks. He slaughtered the Orks manning the guns and armed the demolition charges that the Lieutenant had given him. He walked back down towards where Augustus as still lying, detonating the charges while he walked.
“Are you alright Trooper?” He said to Augustus.
“I’ve been better Sir.” Augustus replied. Armand made his way towards to body of his dead communications officer who’s Vox Caster was still intact.
“Sergeant Armand to Lieutenant Cato, Lieutenant Cato please respond” He asked over the Vox.
“Sergeant this is Lieutenant Cato, go ahead” Cato responded.
“I have destroyed the guns, but I have 8 men down and 1 wounded and our ride is gone. I request evac immediately!” Armand pleaded.
“Roger that Sergeant, dispatching a Valkyrie with a Medic onboard now. I’ll await your arrival with bated breath.”
Armand proceeded to nurse Augustus’s leg while he waited for the dropship.
“Sir, I thought you wouldn’t come back” Augustus said to Armand with relief.
“What did I tell you Augustus? I never break my promises”