In Service to the Imperium (IC thread)

[The Empire of Pretantia]

"This is a direct order from a superior officer, Captain Mogul Cockfull or whatever you are called, pull your Bangalores back to reinforce the Colonel's position TOWARDS THE CITY!"

And just when he ordered his men into the fray, he gets ordered back out. Khafur knew what he saw. Even if no one shared the same emblems it was common sense that the Chimeras with Cadian insignia were friendlies, and that there was no way a backwater PDF could have acquired machines with such symbols. And while it is true that there was enemy artillery bearing down on the armor, there was still friendly shells landing dangerously close to their allies. Nothing he can do about it though; it was an order from a superior to pull back.

"Yes Ma'am!" he responded, and switched back to the company line once more to relay the new orders.

"Bangalores, new orders: pull back towards the city, and reinforce the colonel's position!"

Immediately came the response. "Sir, yes sir!"

Such a satisfying response. No complaints, no qualms, no trouble. That is a sure sign of disciplined soldiers. Khafur smiled a little on the inside, filled with pride. However, he failed to notice one small thing: they have been spotted by a Leman Russ. As Khafur was basking in satisfaction, the steel behemoth swirved its cannon to the good captain's Sentinel, and let loose the end of Mogul Khafur.

---

"Captain!" 1st Lieutenant Cheb Ali shouted through the Vox phone, hoping for an impossible response. It was no use; Captain Khafur had been hit, and as his sentinel keeled over the realization dawned upon Ali: he was now in command. He had to take up the responsibility their beloved captain once held. Ali took a deep breath as he prepared to give the news to the whole company.

"Bangalores, this is Lieutenant Ali. Captain Khafur has been killed by the enemy. As according to the line of succession, I am now in command. We are to continue with our previous orders and reinforce the Colonel. Emperor protects!"

"Emperor protects, Lieutenant, sir!"

[Imperium of Tanith]

"Sir, were getting torn up!" Yells one of his Sergeants as the Chimeras dwindle from 30 down to 20. "Can't these Bastards understand that were friendly!?" Jack calls as another Missile whizzes by the command Chimera. "Frak it, were out of here!" Jack calls, as the Chimeras scramble and begin to retreat en mass towards the Colonel's position according to the IFF markers, following the Sentinel s out of the front lines.
(OOC: Aelosia, may I point out that I elimated the enemy artillery, so how could it still be firing on our men?)

[Segmentia]

"Emperor damn them all!" Colonel Lividivus swore aloud as the torrent of reports came in. Friendly fire incidents, the entire plan turning into clusterfrak the Orks would be able to pull off better, and now the rebels would be able to inflict many more casualties then they should have been able too! And he couldn't even move to take command of the situation personally since his company was engaged with pockets of resistance and the mortar rounds were falling quite close now. Grabbing the vox receiver from the vox operator.

"By the Throne! You are the Imperial Guard, start acting like it, or I'll every last one of you put up against a wall!" Lividivus said sternly. It would have been bad to yell, it would show that he had lost control of the situation. Taking a deep breath, Lividivus pictured the situation in his mind. It didn't look good right now. The blasted rebels had the upper hand. Shameful!

"All units are to cease their current actions. Major Vanhayn, your artillery will lay down a thick smoke cover, and all units will pull back and set up defensive positions around the main drop zone. No doubt the rebels are gathering their forces for an attack, as they no doubt see our disarray." He ordered, and switched channels to Major Hess.

"Major, unfortunately I can not allow you to break off at the moment. I need you to cover the other companies as they pull back. I will speak to you personally once we get our defenses set up." Switching back to the regimental channel, Lividivus continued.

"All commanding officers are to see me once we get our defenses up. And be sure to report your losses. Lividivus out." Arktheleon put the receiver back onto the vox unit.

[Marzarbul]

"All units are to cease their current actions. Major Vanhayn, your artillery will lay down a thick smoke cover, and all units will pull back and set up defensive positions around the main drop zone. No doubt the rebels are gathering their forces for an attack, as they no doubt see our disarray."

The sound of the Colonel's voice conveyed both rage and authority over the vox as the sound of explosions and las-fire were heard in the background. The 34th had only now barely left the drop zone and now they were being ordered back into the suck. Running his hands through his hair, he felt the veins on his neck expand as he slowly exhaled into the stale air and looked down at his boots in contemplation. After several seconds he yelled, "Halt." At this the arrowhead stopped completely and the men of the 34th stood at the ready with guns in hand and many with their heavy outer layer jackets tied to around their waists. Looking around at his surrounding soldiers Samuel felt somewhat embarrassed about having to submit to such orders but at the same time knew that any disobeying officer would suffer the full wrath of the Commisar. As such his men would suffer in equal measure as well. "We have had a change of orders men. The colonel has advised all company commanders to head back to the Drop Zone and provide a defensive perimeter. Since we need to get back at the double I want all officers to get your men formed into three marching columns and for us to move at the double." The commands were relayed over the comms and soon the arrowhead formation quickly disintegrated as the men former into three hastily constructed columns. After a few moments, Samuel in the head of the center column began to run back towards the Colonel's position with the 34th following in close formation.

After several minutes they reentered the drop zone and began to set up various sets of heavy equipment; mainly that of the autocannons and mortar teams. While the rest were either setting up sandbags or attempting to shoot in any direction they deemed they were being shot from. Soon there was some semblance of order surrounding the Colonel and the 34th began to coordinate with the Cadians in the defense while waiting for the arrival of the other company commanders and their soldiers.

[Bone Fort]

Demens listened in on the Colonel's orders.

"... Well... this could have gone better... Alright, Johnson-"
"Jackson."
"-Jameson, right. Send out the order to fall back to the LZ, orderly withdraw... Oh, and stop it with the friendly fire, I guess. Yeah, that too. Now let's get the hell out of here."

His force ceased firing and stopped the advance. The withdraw was surprisingly orderly and calm, given how chaotic things had been mere seconds before. When they arrived, Demens exited the tank and set out to find the Colonel.

... This is gonna suck. Yeah, definitely will be unpleasant... Oh well, here we go.

[Hamste]

Olov smiled seeing that for once he was right about something that he didn't have to be told. He left his troops under the command of the people digging the trenches already figuring they would know what needed help more then he would know. He then left to find where meeting was, after all he was technically a commanding officer of sorts. He really needed to actually learn what the goal was, what his orders where and even who they were fighting. The bright side of all this though was that for once his soldiers couldn't be blamed for making a mess of things while still being helpful and not even having any deaths.

[Aelosia]

Vanhayn let out a sigh of relief as the voice of the Colonel brought some order to the faulty line of the imperial assault. She did not dare to answer to the Colonel, knowing that the man's voxlines were clogged with requests of assistance and orders from every officer in the regiment. She just flickered her vox again and ot her three Captains on the line.

"Colonel wants us to lay smoke in the center for the rest of the companies to redeploy in the back and consolidate, and we lay smoke. Anything to add?", she said in a grim tone. "Yes, mother", the Captains answered back, and soon audible pops of the smoke canisters leaving the barrels from the Griffons and the Basilisks. "I cannot risk any more barrages for the risk of hitting friendlies. First platoon, after the smoke is on place, I want you to reload full metal, depress the guns, and enable the stabilizers. If anything pursues us out of that line, I want you to tankhunt anything that crosses the line between the plateaus. Once the higarans are out of range, pull out with them to the siege lines behind us, am I clear?", she said worried about the outcome of the battle.

"What am I supposed to do?", barked the Second Captain Lexington, commander of the Manticore Batteries. "Sit tight and expect your punishment", answered Vanhayn with a stern tone of voice. "But if they pursue in masse, drop all rockets between the last higarans and their first line, that will be a deterrent if any rebel commander think he's bold enough as to chase Hess. The higarans are the rearguard for the entire regiment, so they will be hit once or twice even with the smoke. Send the Atlas to bring whatever crippled tanks they might have, and send our ambulances to pick their wounded. That'd be all", Vanhayn said before taking a last view at the chaos she had behind her tank, already rolling towards the siege lines. She slipped down the hatch into the commander seat and hid her hand between her hands. Today's battle has been a disaster, and this was just rebel PDF. Against a smart opponent, as Eldar, for instance, they would be all dead. She was now really worried about the future of the women of her company, and about their survival.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Infantry, pull back to the rendezvous! Armor, destroy those tanks!"

Ali's orders were to pull back to the Colonel's position. However, this would let ten Leman Russ chasing the 13th advance on the Guard's flank. They would have to destroy these and secure the flank before falling back entirely. As the Taurus Venator roared into the fire Ali aimed the duel lascannon he wielded with conviction. Years of training and combat had gifted the Lieutenant with an aim that could shoot the stars from the skies, even as the speed and rough handling of the Taurus moved targets to a blur.

The enemy Ali has chosen has entered range; He pulled the trigger, and the light of Sol smote the heretics within the Leman Russ. thirty other machines played a symphony of light and fire, as the rebels clumsily played their tainted instruments. One tank fell after another, until ten infernos remained.

"Report!" Ali shouted, wary of the the chance of casualties.

"Command, two!" "Venator, five!" "Sentinels, seven!"

Good numbers, considering they destroyed several squadrons of Leman Russ. Now to return to base to report. The morning had started bad, but noon brought the death of a hundred heretics. But celebration could come later, because nineteen good men had been lost. Still, those were good numbers for the guard.

"Alright, Return to the company! We still have orders to carry out!"

[Legital]

Hess had been in worse. Much worse. This, however, was near the top of his list. Not because of casualties, or a unbeatable foe, but because of a wonderful lack of communication. He blamed this not on the Colonel, but those above the Colonel. There were Guard regiments and companies here that Hess did not even know, so it could not have been the Colonel. Either way, the Guard would succeed, more or less.
Reed was having a hell of a time sorting through all of the vox traffic, and from what Cain and Amsel have told him, there adjutants are as well. The only clear lines that he had were the ones between himself and his tank commanders, Major Vanhayn, and the Colonel. Other than that, all the other vox channels were a mess with traffic and distortion.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came into his ear piece, and Hess pressed it up against his ear to listen carefully. It was Major Vanhayn.
"Understood completely madam Major Vanhayn. Its quite a mess up here, however the Colonels orders just came in for a general retreat for us to rebuild our defensive perimeter. I'm rather worried about the rebel artillery, but I think you have that covered nicely. If it becomes night soon, I have some long range scanners you can use if you need more. See you at base, Major. Hess out." Hess said, and he switched his vox over to listen to the Colonels recorded response. Indeed, they were pulling back, the Higarans as well. And, which was intriguing, the Colonel wished to speak with Hess personally. Hopefully he had done nothing wrong to contribute to this mess. His tanks were all together, minus one, and holding the vanguard. Now, it was time to retreat, which the Higarans had the pleasure to cover.
"Attention, all tank commanders, attention please. We are to cover the retreat of the regiment as we regroup and set up a clear line of communication. Follow through with general order R-3. Coordinates are being sent now. Hess out, and the Emperor protects." Hess switched off the vox, and clasped his hands together. "Alright Wulfe, you heard me. Lets pull back, slowly now. Gregor, eye on the horizon. Make sure there is no counter attack coming through the smoke. Thats the last thing we need at the moment." Wulfe made a thumbs up, and Gregor made a grunting sound which was an affirmative. As Hess's tank pulled back slowly, covering the retreat of the regiment, his other tanks followed suit. Some commanders had to pop their hatches to shoo infantry out of the way so they did not get crushed.

"Hey, y'all, I have some reports here that there was a friendly fire incident. Apparently, someone deep striked Chimeras into the enemy position, and as they came towards our line, the PDF opened up on them. A real mess, eh?" Reed said, going through the vox reports, and the young loader, Jameson, shook his head. "Reckon it was the PDF's fault? Or some high command bastard that doesn't know how troop movements work. Typically dropping men in the enemy lines does not work too well." Gregor ran his hand through his thick mustache, not as luxurious as the handlebar like ones that many of the men had, but a thicker one nevertheless. "I'm placing my money on the high command bastard. Probably a Lord-General, not even a damn man yet, inheriting the title from his dead pappy, eh?" Hess simply shook his head. It was regrettably most likely true.
"Well, I know I ain't the only one who will be glad to stretch my legs back at base." Wulfe said, before continuing. "We do have a base, right Ibram? The siege company had to have been doing something." Reed made a raspberry, "Aw hell, Wulfe, you think those bastards know what their doing? If you want proper construction work, call in the Higaran twelfth Engineers. They know the game." Jameson, leaning back against his seat, an arm wrapped around the back, shrugged. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get some." The boy said, and then Gregor snorted. "Wrong holiday kid. Light Festival's coming up soon. We won't be getting any reinforcements, but some damn good whiskey." The men chuckled, Gregor was indeed correct. With Light Festival approaching, Amsel would have his hands full monitoring alcohol consumption. Hess wondered if the Colonel, and the mission, would allow the Higarans to celebrate at least a days worth of the festival. They'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

---

"Move, damnit, move! He's still alive!" Fredrick shouted as he and several others carried a small stretcher with Sergeant Levric's form on it. The small vehicle encampment the Higarans held was full of loitering men. The ten Griffons sat like an impenetrable wall, facing the retreating front line, and the support vehicles, like sheep, were herded together behind them. A few medical Chimeras sat ready to receive the wounded, which there was only one.
"Damnit move!" Fredrick yelled again, as he guided the stretcher through the men, towards the Chimera.
A small tarp was set up over the back of the open Chimera, with a table and some medics around. Three of them were smoking, while the fourth one shuffled a deck of cards.
"We've got a critical case here!" Fredrick yelled, and all of the medicaes jumped up quickly, clearing the table for the wounded man. One of them went into the Chimera and came back out with a medical bag. Someone else grabbed an IV and bandages. Levric was laid down on the table, and the medicaes went to work. Fredrick was also a medicae, however he was mostly the situation and supplies manger, following into a roll as a Quartermaster as well.

Sergeant Andaly and his crew was there as well, but keeping back as the doctors got to work. They wanted to make sure Levric was going to make it. The medicaes working hard now, Fredrick took Andaly and his men aside for a moment. "Alright, Sergeant Levric can be saved." He said, and the tankers showed signs of relief. Fredrick only rustled his brow, obviously unhappy with what he was going to say next. "However, we don't have proper facilitates to treat him. The only people who do are the Cadians and the Thermidorians. The latter being closest. As per my orders if anyone asks, we need someone over here with supplies to help." Andaly immediately straightened himself up. "Of course! Hell boys, times a waste'n! Move it now!" The tankers shuffled back and forth, breaking out into a jog to get back to their tank. Levrics death would not be because they were too slow to get proper help.
Fredrick turned back to the medicaes, who were doing their best to stabilize the man. Once the mans jacket was removed, his wounds were clearly shown. And they were not a pretty sight.

Three ribs were puncturing the skin, and it appeared shrapnel had been imbedded into the mans chest. His arm was broken, but it was the last of the doctors concerns. The bleeding had to be controlled, as the man had already last the majority of his blood it appeared. He was as pale as snow. But by the Emperor he still breathed! And he would live, too. As Andaly went to fetch help, Fredrick went off to find a Chaplin for prayer.

---

Andaly's tank bounced along the desert ground as they sped towards the Thermidorians. They were consolidating and retreating as well as they provided a smoke screen.
"Sarge, who do we go to for help? Just vox over?" Gaul said, the driver of the tank. Andaly rubbed his face, unsure himself. He was just a sergeant, going to fetch help on his own with no proper orders. But to hell with orders, a man was dieing! Jaqui, the gunner, motioned his hand in the air to get the mens attention. "There, I see the Thermidorians! We're well within vox range, so let 'er ring sarge." Andaly nodded, and fastened his headset to his head, and he called into it.
"This is Sergeant Andaly of the Higaran 21st armored!" He said, suddenly realizing he did not quite know how to continue. So he put it simply. "We've got a highly critical man at our M section, but we don't have the means to treat his wounds. Major Hess says y'all can treat 'em. Please, we need help!"

[Imperium of Tanith]

The 20 Chimeras pull in wearily to the Imperial lines, battered and barely running from the sheer amount of friendly fire unloaded on them. 2 of them just croak the second they pull into friendly territory, their Machine Spirits finally failing after the entire issue. "I can't believe it, we lost 50 men and 10 Chimeras on our first day, all to Friendly Fire." Captain Jack says, slamming his hand against one the cupola, breaking his hand in the process. "I'm going to frakking kill whoever's dumbarse decision it was to fire upon my men..." He says gritting his teeth, as he orders the Chimeras still operable to form a barrier Line before heading towards the Colonel's bunker, his hand bloody as he clenches it with rage.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Ali gazed upon the rows of chimeras as his own men filed by. The men of the 13th Bangalore company did not tire easily. They could run further than the Cadians, and they needed no more than four hours of sleep. Yet they seemed weary after only ten miles, tired after only six hours. They did not tire themselves out; rather, they were drained by the aura of disaster befalling their brothers-in-arms. To their right were guardsmen fired upon by their own allies; to their left lay the battlefield in the distance, so covered in blood and embarrassment. It seemed Ali's predictions of a good noon were to be false.

Ali climbed down from the venator's turret and set forth to the Colonel's tent, leaving setting the perimeter to the other lieutenants. Hopefully, the twilight of the day would also be that of the rebels.

[Sub Sector Protractis]

At the Imperial Landing Zone

The whole Imperial base was abuzz with activity, there was a slight haze rising from the camp as the long work of digging siege lines was underway.

"Hey all of you hurry up and get the hell out of there!" yelled a navy crew member as Imperial sailors offloaded more ammunition for the Guard, "C'mon you deaf or just stupid hurry the hell up! For the love of Terra move your...." the crew member was caught off guard by the hulking figure of Sergeant Mabus. Seeing the crew member's shocked expression Sergeant Mabus was slightly amused, he then asked in a level voice " Point me to the command post." The crew member only managed to point to his right and stutter "O-ov-over there My Lord". With that Sergeant Mabus walked over to the entrance to the command post noticing 20 damaged Chimeras and wounded being rushed to a casualty collection point.

As he approached the door the sentries moved out of his way, as he entered he saw several people moving about with papers, heard the squaking of an entire regiment's vox transmissions. His improved hearing allowed him to notice the different accents of the different companies. Around the Holo Desk he saw officers from different companies, taking note of a fair number of women among their number. He announced his presence saying "Can one of you direct me to the Colonel?"

[Armageddon Steel Legion]

"Regiment halt fire!" Shouted Alexis as the mighty guns of the Vhermactians then stopped firing. The Leman Russ called "Krieg." Stood still as the commander, young Erik Von Carestein opened the hatch and peered out, holding the vox-caster to his lips as he then forwarded the area of the rebel artillery to Alexis. "Frau, Alexis. Area for fire is Krieg, Steel, Arma, Godox." The tank then rumbled into life as a rocket just missed it, driving backwards the mighty cannon then moved up and fired, sending a round towards the enemy infantry as it and the fellow Leman Russ's began to drive backwards. "Men, open fire on Krieg, Steel, Arma, Godox!" Shouted Alexis as the artillery guns began to re-assign to their new coordinates, Alexis then changed channels to the Maidens. "Frau, Victoria. Coordinates for enemy artillery is Krieg, Steel, Arma, Godox." She then placed the vox-caster down before her as she then sighed and placed her gas-mask on.


Carolus sighed, it seemed Hess wanted to be a hard man to deal with. Very well. "I am Krieg-master, Carolus Rex of the Caroleans. We are here to support you." He then noticed that Hess's unit seemed to be retreating. Hmm, strange. Carolus had his men walk forward, until they reached firing distance with the enemy. Carolus took cover behind a rock as two other men joined him, firing their las-guns as the Caroleans held.

[Aelosia]

Vanhayn came down of the cupola of her tank as soon as it reached the beginnings of the defensive works started by the half of the Siege Company that remained around the landinz zone. With horror, she realized that the Earthshakers deployed there were still firing, and that somehow either Columbein haven't realized what had happened, and that the Colonel did not give the order to stop the barrages. That, or Columbein had decided to ignore the order and keep firing. Either way, the consequences would be hard. She was planning on trying to make sense out of this disaster and present a report for the Colonel to see. She hoped that the cadian would recognize the mistakes once he saw them. He looked like a man of honor.

She took off her tanker hat, looking at the cibelline weasel leather full of red powder. The pulverized clay was all over her face and everything over her shoulders, painting her face crimson since her ride atop of her heavy tank. Her maiden braid was full of that red dust, too. She cursed this planet, cursed the rebel forces, and above all cursed her fellow officers, at least those who had taken part in the making of the disaster they had in their hands. The ride back had been far from uneventful. She had been forced to stop again to see the officer in charge of the troops that had landed in the left flank, those unknown troops of Bangalore, still standing between her lines of fire and the rebels who tried to counterattack that flank, and took a glancing blow at the rear of her tank that for sure will require repairs. They have stubbornly remained there in spite of their commanding officer getting blown, that Cocksomething guy. Other commander would had labeled that bravery. For Vanhayn, it was ineptitude. They had crippled a few enemy tanks that were in the line of fire anyway, losing men at the same time they prevented any help coming their way, and slowed down the full retreat of the higaran company, forcing Hess tanks to remain in place under artillery fire meanwhile they played at being the hero of an already lost day. She cursed at the infantry commanders stupid enough as to keep facing armour with their troops. They held no regard for the lives of their troops, or the maintenance of the strength of the guard.

Captain Irvine looked her way, holding a slate on her hand with the results of the preliminary scan of the field. Atop one of the plateaus, there were signatures of some imperial chimeras burning, alongside all the tortous way down they had to travel to return to the imperial lines. On the first line of battle, a Leman Russ was burning. To the left, there were some bangalorian vehicles left in shambles too, alongside who knows many soldiers. She prayed to He who Reigns Upon a Throne thanking him that all her units seemingly returned unharmed. Near misses, and a gunner had her hand blown off by some shrapnel. The thermidorians were lucky.

She kept checking the slate analyzing the losses. The companies that had suffered the most had been those absent from the tactical meeting prior to the invasion. No surprise there. Some guard commanders thought they could prevail over any situation by the application of brute and raw force, without thinking. Even if that meant reducing their troops to heaps of flesh in ribbons. Glory Hounds all, they were competing among each other even more than they were thiknking about defeating the enemy. Vanhayn knew that there were situations that asked for courage and determination, and others for caution and finesse. Other officers did not see it that way. The worst mistake of all was the one made by that cadian company in charge of the deep striking chimeras. He had dropped his men in a position that was being bombarded, atop a plateau. That must be the worst case of sheer stupidity Vanhayn had seen during her long years of service in the Guard, and she had seen many. All that commander had managed to do was to destroy an already crippled position in exchange of landing atop a friendly barrage, then having to trot down a plateau in armoured vehicles no less. She was surprised any of them was still alive, and she recalled how close she was on opening fire on them herself, if not for her careful monitoring of the regimental vox channels. That man was the worst of all. He had personally killed every casualty they had suffered. Such disregard for the lives of the men under him made Vanhayn to despise him. And to think that he was a cadian! So much for "the best of the best".

So many ork tactics deployed this day on the field. Most of those regiments seemed to come from feral worlds! No knowledge of the field of battle, of the positions of the enemy and the positions of the other companies, and still they were launching themselves at the enemy lines as tyranids. Vanhayn pondered for a moment if those tactics were related to the experience of those regiments prior to their merge into the 1162nd. Most of them were veterans from clashes against orks or tyranids. They did not know better, and imperial commanders had a tendency to use those regiments as a blunt mallet against the orks or the Great Devourer, swinging them blindly against the foe. Vanhayn pondered if her cautious and careful approach to tactics had not been affected by her previous experience too, in a complete different way. The Thermidorians had faced eldar slavers mainly, an enemy that was made of smoke and mirrors, and required an extremely careful approach to tactics. Also, they had served alongside extremely disciplined regiments during their career. Mordians, Vostroyans, Volpone and their like. That had turned them into a efficient, intelligent force, so opposed to the brutality she had seen since day 1 around this reigment. It was just their experience, and she could not blame them for approaching war the only way they knew. She shuddered at the thought that should the enemy be the Dark Raiders, they would all had been slaved and played with in their torture chambers. This kind of blunder was a death sentence against the resourceful eldar xenos.

There were some exceptions. In theory, the Colonel seemed pretty capable, but either he had refused to order his men, or they had failed to follow his orders. Hess was competent, Vanhayn knew that. The airborne woman seemed competent too. She could not even blame the PDF commander for firing upon those chimeras. She had been so close of doing the same. In such a theatre as Evisor, where the enemy used your same hardware and resources, you needed to be extremely careful about positioning. Several regiment captains had not even thought about that. She and Hess had interchanged codes and tactics for that same reason, but others had not even bothered to see a map or hear any transmission from the other companies. It was as if she and Hess had been practicing for a careful waltz to just find themselves with the drunk uncles stepping on their toes in the midst of the Great Ball of the Duchess. She hoped her request of getting a special commissar for her company would be fulfilled before she left Evisor. According to the last news she got in the transport ship, the Commissar had been assigned and was on her way to rendezvous with the company at the rebel planet.

Then realization hit Vanhayn when she kept reading the log. The entire 3rd company had been isolated and separated from the main body of the regiment! Due to a wrong landing and a complete encirclement by rebel forces to the west of their position, they could count the entire heavy infantry company lost. Whatever men that did not perish would be prisoners by now. The rebels wanted to keep the imperials in place to isolate the 3rd, and they had managed to do so while in the midst of the chaos the 3rd remained alone, unsupported by the forces that had jumped in the armor battle. An entire company lost! This was a worse disaster even than she thought. The current position of the regiment, while well defended, was susceptible to encirclement. All the imperials could do now was to dig in, and hope to outlast the enemy. A fight that the rebel commanders were for sure planning from the beginning. The rebels were just winning time against them while they decimated the 3rd, and now they could mount up a full offenssive. They were closer to their supply lines, had the numbers and the resources, and they had high morale after sending the imperials back with their tail between their legs. The imperial troops that were supposed to be of high quality.

And then she realized morale had been the worst blow to the imperial army. Companies will not trust the Colonel easily, or each other. Men were dismayed that with all the power at their disposal, they had failed to outthink the rebels, falling into their games and traps instead, and were for sure willing to see their officers as incompetent arrogant bastards. The rebels wanted time to defend their city and prepare their defenses, and the imperial attackers had just given that. She clenched her fist hard. Someone had to pay for this.

She walked towards the HQ and entered the Colonel's gathering room, entering as a unleashed hurricane, by the look on her proud features still completely stained with red sand. She looked at the faces around the table. Some of them were already known. Many, however, were absolute unknown to her, including a huge ogryn that had came out from whatever barn their kind bred. That so many companies had acted without any tactical knowledge enervated Vanhayn, but she stayed quiet. She knew it was the turn of the Colonel to speak, not hers. At least she was an officer that could respect rules, orders, and a chain of command. Her fury at the unethical rabble in front of her made her grip the handle of her power sword so hard that her gloved hand almost got a cramp.

A unknown man nearby asked "Can one of you direct me to the Colonel?". Vanhayn looked at him, but remained quiet, it was not yet time, but that did not make her less angry.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vox channel of Andaly's tank chimed back with a simple response from an unknown Thermidorian. "Take us to him, over. We will follow". Merely seconds after those words were issued, a Chimera with the marking of an double headed eagle, one side red and the other white (Imperial Guard do not use crosses, now I see), the symbol on the ambulances the higaran officers had seen before, sped towards Andaly's tank with such haste that left a large trail of red sand behind it. The driver kept the thing at an insane velocity, and it seemed it was going to turn over several times as it approached the higaran tank. It bumped like crazy, advancing at a rate not supposed to be possible for a chimera, and clearly dangerous.

However, the driver seemed able to maintain her vehicle in one piece as they followed Andaly's tank back to the M section of the higaran deployment. As soon as they reached the medicaes from the Higaran company, the Chimera drifted on the sand, gyrating on its axis to present the back of the vehicle towards the medicae that were working on Levric's survival. The rear hatch of the compartment opened and from the interior of the armoured vehicle three women with the uniform of the thermidorian nurses raced towards the man lying wounded. They all carried med-packs in their hands, the one that seemed to be their officer in charge, with lieutenant laupels on her shoulders, carried one so complex that seemed a narthecium.

The leading woman, deadly serious, looked at the medicae officers around. "Is this the critical man?", she asked, a tint of worry in her tone.

[Marzarbul]

Samuel entered the Colonel's gathering room and attempted to gauge the other officers moods around the room. They ranged from either suppressed fury to complete exhaustion and no one look completely satisfied with the campaigns first engagement. Looking down at his own uniform, his once winter camo was covered in dirt and grime while his chestnut colored hair was slick with sweat. Even though his men had not fought as intensely as those other companies they had marched and counter-marched quite a bit and this environment was certainly something that they needed to get used to. Talking a seat upon a small three legged cloth pedestal he then attempted to pat out some of the dust from his uniform and at clean his boots somewhat. Placing a battered, red stained clipboard upon the conference table, Samuel straightened his jacket and then went through his casualty list in his mind in preparation: three walking wounded, 57 cases of dehydration, and 29 minor sun burns. Compared to the other companies it would seem trivial he thought but it was what it was. At the very least he had kept his men safe and ready for battle unlike some of the rumors he heard swirling around camp about misplaced drops and suicidal charges. Though how the Colonel would address their failures was something that Samuel was dreading to find out.

[Hamste]

Olov looked around the meeting and was somewhat worried to find he was the only Ogryn in the crowd as far as he could see. He hoped that no one had ill feelings to him when he gave his report of zero injuries, his people were barely breaking a sweat digging the trenches and no shots had gotten even close to them. He decided he should learn a bit about the others while waiting for the leader. "So, umm, hello everyone. I am Olov and may I ask what happened out there? I and my men were woken up right before the fight so can someone fill me in on the situation out there and who those people are?" Olov said hoping that he was speaking correctly and not breaching any rule of etiquette. Whoever the people out there were they must be tactical geniuses to beat all these imperial members so badly.

[Aelosia]

Olov looked around the meeting and was somewhat worried to find he was the only Ogryn in the crowd as far as he could see. He hoped that no one had ill feelings to him when he gave his report of zero injuries, his people were barely breaking a sweat digging the trenches and no shots had gotten even close to them. He decided he should learn a bit about the others while waiting for the leader. "So, umm, hello everyone. I am Olov and may I ask what happened out there? I and my men were woken up right before the fight so can someone fill me in on the situation out there and who those people are?" Olov said hoping that he was speaking correctly and not breaching any rule of etiquette. Whoever the people out there were they must be tactical geniuses to beat all these imperial members so badly.

Vanhayn looked at the Ogryn for a moment, taking some effort to look up at the huge figure that dwarfed her. This was an abhuman, the lowest of the low, and had dared to speak out of turn. Yet Major Vanhayn, as arrogant and aloof as she could be, realized that chastising the Ogryn would be discharging her frustration on someone who did not deserve it. That was unfair, and would be falling to th same standards of the men who killed their own soldiers everyday. The Ogryn was innocent of what had happened. In a second, her look of disgust was replaced by just a look of patience. "The Colonel will fill the gaps for everyone. We wait for him to debrief us", she said with a snarl, looking upfront.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Fifty casualties. That was the number the Bangalores lost returning to base. All of them from those blasted tanks. They weren't even specialized tanks; just standard Leman Russ with heavy bolters. There was no cover on the flat terrain of Evisor; only the rebels could hide away on top of those plateaus. Not one vehicle returned to base unscathed; Ali's own Taurus Venator had been hit by several bolts. Fifty casualties may not be much for some commanders, but it was a devastating blow for the 13th, who prided themselves in the level of training and nerves each man possessed. Five Venators, three heavy sentinels, five scout sentinels, and 150 men remain after only a few hours of combat. At least it's not as bad as how those Skavakor men have it; they are surrounded, and the enemy shall destroy them before attacking in full force.

The Bangalores had nothing to entertain themselves with while supposedly resting, so they'd might as well be useful to others. It doesn't take 150 men to maintenance thirteen vehicles, so some of the spares assisted digging trenches or standing guard. Ali himself had a meeting to attend. As he walked to the endowed colonel's tent his mind drifted across the cosmos, thinking of reasons the battle turned out like this: lack of communications, confusion of insignia, poor planning and troop deployment. But the past was useless to Ali at the moment; any good ideas he had to remedy these failings were, without doubt, floating in the heads of other officers.

As Ali entered the gathering room, he gazed upon a massive brute, a Cadian destined for fire, and a lady of war.

[Hamste]

Olov looked around the meeting and was somewhat worried to find he was the only Ogryn in the crowd as far as he could see. He hoped that no one had ill feelings to him when he gave his report of zero injuries, his people were barely breaking a sweat digging the trenches and no shots had gotten even close to them. He decided he should learn a bit about the others while waiting for the leader. "So, umm, hello everyone. I am Olov and may I ask what happened out there? I and my men were woken up right before the fight so can someone fill me in on the situation out there and who those people are?" Olov said hoping that he was speaking correctly and not breaching any rule of etiquette. Whoever the people out there were they must be tactical geniuses to beat all these imperial members so badly.

Vanhayn looked at the Ogryn for a moment, taking some effort to look up at the huge figure that dwarfed her. This was an abhuman, the lowest of the low, and had dared to speak out of turn. Yet Major Vanhayn, as arrogant and aloof as she could be, realized that chastising the Ogryn would be discharging her frustration on someone who did not deserve it. That was unfair, and would be falling to th same standards of the men who killed their own soldiers everyday. The Ogryn was innocent of what had happened. In a second, her look of disgust was replaced by just a look of patience. "The Colonel will fill the gaps for everyone. We wait for him to debrief us", she said with a snarl, looking upfront.

"So basically you want to be as inefficient as possible? Instead of saving us all time by explaining the briefing to me while we wait, you will wait the same amount of time then have them explain the briefing again and then debrief us? That will take us precious time that would be better used preparing for the next attack so it won't blow up like this again... It is poor decisions like this that probably led to that horrible loss in the first point. Instead of preparing and thinking everyone charged into an attack when even an ogryn like me could see was a bad idea. I am an ogryn, was confused from the drugs wearing off and had no information at all yet I still made a better choice than almost everyone here." Olov said incredibly annoyed that she would suggest something so pointless and wasteful in such a mean way. Once again he was glad that he was so much more intelligent than the average ogryn. He knew what he said was rude but they probably needed to hear the truth.

[Bone Fort]

Demens had just entered the command tent in time to witness the glory that was an Ogryn telling off the stuck-up noblewoman. He froze mid-step in the doorway from the shock, and simply stared at the two of them for a solid minute.

He eventually managed to regain his composure, and walking over to the Ogryn said, "I like you."

He then turned to wait for the arrival of the remaining officers.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Many things have happened in the history of the Imperium. What the lieutenant just witnessed has not. He has witnessed an ogryn, in fluent High Gothic, ridicule the procedures of the endowed colonel, and then go on to state his men have been more successful sitting around the base than the rest of the regiment in defeating the enemy. Ali took a full moment to gather his thoughts and piece together what had just taken place. An ogryn told an officer, in perfect Gothic, that she failed. Now that Ali has processed that, he can continue with his normal line of thinking: such an act is a show of lack of discipline, and the perpetrator should be punished. However, the brute did have a point; they should discuss current events until the colonel arrives so that they may evaluate the situation without being obstructed by formalities. Unfortunately, it is a bad idea to take advice at this point; it seemed the officer the ogryn was conversing with was about to explode from rage, especially after that Lieutenant colonel that had just entered commended him. This was not going to end well.

[Imperium of Tanith]

Captain Jack entered the room just moments before the Ogryn spoke, and it stopped the Cadian. A Ogryn, speaking in High Gothic fluently, just teared the Colonel a new one with complete logical sense. Jack just stood there, like a statue, trying to comprehend what the Frak just happened. "Im with you, I like this Ogryn." The Cadian captain finally responds, standing on the other side of the incredibly intelligent Abhuman. "Colonels gonna love this too" He mutters to himself, pulling a document stamped with the Aquils and Cadian Gate from his pants, refolding it nicely, and putting it in his breast pocket. He than proceeded to wait silently for the Colonels arrival.

[Legital]

The ride back to base was rather uneventful for the Higaran tanks. Smoke deployed by friendly artillery covered their retreat, along with the dust cloud their tanks kicked up as well. No rebels pursued them, which meant that the entire Imperial regiment was unhindered for the time being, unless their was an ariel attack or a counter-attack within the coming hours. Other than that, they were safe. For now of course.

Despite seeing little combat, Hess and his crew were slumped in their seats in their tank. Reed was categorizing the last vox reports, and Gregor and Jameson chatted over if Higaran engineers could construct a mile long bridge over a river under forty-eight hours. Apparently, it was some folk legend amongst the men that it could be done, which Hess doubted greatly. If so, well, that only proved that the Higarans were better than most. But Hess kept out of the conversation, like Wulfe who quietly piloted the tank at the lead of the fifty-four tank double column. However, it was not long before the sight of the Imperial base was in view that Hess was drawn into a conversation with his crew.
"So, Ibram, sir, you've been mighty quiet back there. You alright?" Gregor's deep and grizzled voice said over the intercom, with the slightest hint of concern. After engagements, Hess was rather talkative. Today, however, he was more spent then usual. Hess ran a hand across his mustache, thinking, before continuing. "I'm fine, Gregor. I'm just worried about how things will go when we get back to base. No doubt things will be heated over today's...disaster, as you could call it." The men were quiet for a moment, only the hum of the tank audible. "Well, look at it this way. In a few hours, a nice warm cot awaits us all." Jameson said, and Hess smiled wryly. "Perhaps for you all, but I will no doubt be up all night with the other commanders, answering for our defeat and composing a workable plan and communication line." Again, their was silence by Hess's somber response.
Reed then began smiling, Hess noticed, and he held up a piece of faded paper. "Aha! Another one for the scrapbook if I say so myself." He said with a hint of pride, and Gregor turned in his seat to look at the man. "Another one of your pin up gals, eh Reed? Let me guess, one of them Thermidorians?" A general chuckle spread across the men, even Hess in his dull mood. Reed, however, tucked the paper into a small notebook. "Perhaps so, perhaps not. You'll have to earn a peak." This caused Gregor to snort, and he grinned. "A peak, eh? I think someone is saving it for Light Festival, eh boys? Its about around that time you get all protective of your gals." The man said, which prompted Wulfe to chime in. "He's right, Reed. We've got you caught now. What'aya think Ibram, sir?" Gregor and Jameson turned to their commander, who kept a neutral face, however it cracked into a wide grin, prompting the men to laugh.

---

Most of M section and the support vehicles were already at the Imperial base, set up for the Higaran men to arrive. However, several Chimeras stayed behind, along with the Thermidorain medical chimera. First Lieutenant Fredrick was the Higaran in charge or the little gathering, and he had three of the several Higaran Chimeras spread out with their Heavy Bolters ready, to ensure that no rebels came after them. Andalys tank sat ready as well in case it was needed. They would only move when Levric was able too, which Fredrick did not know how long it would be.

As the three Thermidorian nurses arrived, Fredrick was chatting with the chaplain over worst case scenarios. However, seeing the nurses lifted his heart.
"Ai, ma'ams. He's the only one recovered from a knocked out tank. Artillery shell knocked his tank out, and he would have been dead if it was not for his position in the tank." He explained, waling with them to Levric, who was surrounded by four Higaran medics, who wore similar uniforms to the tankers, however they wore forage caps and their had shoulder epaulettes, which were stark white with a single red stripe. They made way for the nurses to gather around the table. "You can set your things down right here ma'am. Tell us what you need us to do." The man said, stepping back for the nurse to examine Levrics barely stabilized form.

Fredrick stood back grimly, speaking quietly with the chaplain who held a somber look on his face, gripping a copy of the Imperial creed in one hand.

---

It was not long until all the Higaran tanks pulled into the base, retreating to their designated area where their tanks could rest their spirits, and the men their bodies. Most of the Higaran men kept around their tanks and prefabricated Guard barracks, however some ventured out around the base to explore.
Major Hess, his second Captain, Cain, and the company Commissar, Amsel, all stood together outside Hess's tank as his crew cleaned the red dust off of their beloved vehicle.

"Quite a day, if I do say so myself." Cain said, one of the biggest Higarans in the company, standing at six and a half tall, with broad shoulders and big arms, along with a big bushy beard. Cain always reminded Hess of the Higaran lumberjacks of old. Commissar Amsel, standing next to the big man, met the mans full height only with his peaked cap. He had donned his black storm coat, and his arms were clasped firmly around his back. His face held a look of mixed frustration and exhaustion, with some anger. Commissar Felix Amsel was rarely in this state.
"Indeed, Captain. However, if I do say so myself, Major, sir, today's events were only worsened by, pardon me for saying this, but by lack of communication on the Colonels part. I fear that the fabled Cadian anger will be released upon us during tonight's meeting." The commissar said, and Hess nodded grimly. "Well, lets head to the command center, shall we? Best not to make them wait any longer." And with that, the three men set off quickly.

When they arrived, they were just in time to hear Major Vanhayns response to the Ogryn. Which, to the three Higarans sounded like a normal response to a question they were not present to hear. However, the Ogyrn spoke back in a rather intelligent tone, however one that lacked great discipline. Hess looked at Commissar Amsel, and thought the man was going to explode himself. Hess and Cain took a step back, allowing the Higaran Commissar to walk forth towards the Ogryn.
"Ogryn." The commissar said simply, with a coldness in his voice that caused Hess to wince. Cain and Hess then exchanged glanced, knowing this could go multiple ways. Many, many ways. "That was nothing but an utmost and blatant disrespectful remark. No one here wants to hear about how wonderful your tactical genius is, and how you could have single handedly guided us through an unfortunate blunder with one hand lodged within your nasal cavity!" The man snapped. Hess had only seen his commissar this mad on few occasions. "To even suggest that you have had gone above the call of duty by sitting on your bloody ass while the Emperors servants bled out there today only goes to show how utterly undeserving you filthy abhumans are!" The commissar continued, still fired up. "However," He added after a moment, back to his cool poisonous voice, "I will not contribute to this mess anymore by having to exercise my full Commissariat authority over something as worthless as your pathetic remark. Unless you hold a rank which allows you to show such disrespect, the first and last words I better hear out of you is sir! or ma'am!" And without awaiting a response, he turned on his heel to face Lieutenant Colonel Demens. He held the mans gaze for a moment before speaking.
"As for you, sir, I expected better from someone of your rank and status. Openly expressing gratitude towards an open display of disrespect does not fill the mold of a proper servant of the Emperor." He then turned towards the newly arrived Captain Jack, "I also expect the same from you as well. And everyone else here." He added.
And with that, the Commissar was finished with his rant. Hess and Cain were both thankful that their commissar did nothing rash, however it was almost embarrassing. It was their commissar after all.

Quietly taking a place at the table, Hess and Cain looked over the faces of the various commanders in the room, all awaiting the Colonel himself.

[Aelosia]

To say that Vanhayn was not surprised to hear the Ogryn's words would be a lie. She stood there with her mouth opened as the Ogryn delivered a speech of more than 20 words, some of them larger than two syllables, in complete awe and surprise. Whatever was in front of her, it was not an Ogryn. The answer did not make any sense, but the grasp of grammar of the creature was astonishing, even if he made no tactical sense whatsoever, as noone could conduct a debriefing or a briefing but the Colonel. She imagined the reduced brain of the Ogryn was suggesting they started to dig trenches without any plan whatsoever, even although the creature had some grammar skills. More likely he was some sort of parrot trained by some funny-wannabe officer of the guard.

She was willing to answer when the Higaran commissar entered the tent and delivered a barrage of words at the Ogryn. He had accused her of being inefficient, of all things. And that, coming from an Ogryn lost and recently arrived who did not know what happened, or going to happen, of all things. It was like being insulted by a stray dog. She reprieved herself, satisfied with what the higaran commissar had said. He had covered the situation pretty nicely. A third of those present were inept arrogants, and the other third were undisciplined rabble, as it looked like. She pondered again if someone was trying to saboutage the Colonel on purpose.

She pondered if the Commissar was going to draw and execute the Ogryn right there for insubordination. She had seen entire regiments decimated for less. But at the end, the Commissar seemed content with his rebuke, something that calmed Vanhayn. In the end she did not like summarial executions, and those Ogryns could come handy to dig trenches during the entire night. Plus, they were going to need every man available, although she was pretty sure some heads would roll tonight, if discipline was to be maintained and the Colonel could improve coordination and obeisance to superior orders. She rested assured she was not one of those involved in the disaster, as she had followed her orders to the letter, but she did bet pretty high that many of those present were.

Openly, she just nodded to Amsel, showing both her agreement and gratitude, but did not speak a word. The Ogryn was not even an officer, so he should defer to those who were of higher position, just as Vanhayn was doing regarding the Colonel. She just wished she had a Commissar of her own, too. She hoped again the Commissar assigned to the Thermidorians could arrive soon. That would give her leverage in trying to uphold the manual of the guard in front of such rabble such a this. Vanhayn remained silent, knowing that most of the officers in the gathering had openly displayed their distaste for her after the ramble-mumble of the seemingly parrot-ogryn. She hoped that the Colonel would set things right. For the better of them all, the thermidorians included. Vanhayn was glad to remain silent and not wasting words on those who did not even deserved them. She took her seat, between Hess and a new guy, well away from the Ogryn and the others, and waited for the Colonel.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The thermidorian medicae Lieutenant simply nodded several times as her counterpart from the higarans explained the situation to her. She seemed to be focused on Levric, taking a peek to the wounds and damaged body parts as the other medic finished his explanation.

"I don't need to tell you what to do, you are medics", she said calmly. "If you called for me it is because you need a surgeon, which I am. Just assist me", she placed her large narthecium in the ground and took a closer look at Levric's burns. The two other nurses opened their med-packs, and one took a spray from it as the Lieutenant extended her hands. The assistant nurse sprayed the Lieutenant's hand up to the elbows, and then covered them with a pair of bright blue plastic gloves. The other nurse took what looked a huge syringe-pistol and a can.

"He looks stable", said the Lieutenant as she passed her gloved hands though the wounds. The nurse blew from the large can some pressurized air, blowing away the dust, the caked blood and any further solid residue the wounds might retain. "Doesn't mean he's not going to die, but...It gives us hope". One of the nurses pressed the injector against Levric's neck and pressed the trigger. Then replaced the med-cartridge on top of the injector pistol with another one filled with a yellow liquid, and shot again into the man's vein. She did it two more times before the surgeon pointed at her narthecium. "Pliers. Staplegun. Lancets and scalpels", she added, and quickly the nurse opened the case and placed the items on what looked like a silver platter, giving the tools a good spray with another can, this time of a greenish liquid.

"I am going to take out the largest pieces of shrapnel", she said as the nurse took the can and started to spray Levric's chest with the greenish liquid. "Then I am going to need your help to put his ribs into place. Then I will staple the wounds. More likely smaller pieces will remain on his body, but more likely will turn into harmless cysts with time. He won't be able to pass unnoticed through metal detectors, tho". It was a weak attempt at a joke, but even she was nervous about losing a men from another company after her help had been requested.

The surgeon started to work as the nurses took Levric's dogtags, read them, and then brought a pair of bags filled with a yellow and a red liquid, inserting needles into his arms and letting the bags hanging from a pair of extensive poles at his sides. She first cut some flesh from the lying man's torso, especially the ripped parts and the edges of the wounds, making them larger but cleaner. Then she signalled one of the higarans medics to bring a metal detector from her narthecium, a small piece of electronics that looked like a normal infoslate but that emitted a ping when he passed it over Levric's torso. By the sound of the pings, the surgeon inserted her pliers inside Levric's body and removed several pieces of deformed metal. She remained silent the whole time, just pointing with her fingers at the zones she wanted to check.

"Now comes the hard part", she added when she thought she had taken out the bigger parts, and pointed at the higaran medics. "You need to reduce the fracture, and that means to push his ribs back into place". The higarans were stronger, and they knew their job. They moved the ribs in place without any instructions. Any combat nurse was pretty proficient in doing that, as fractures were common injuries.

After the bones were held in place, and with the higaran medics holding them, the surgeon picked something pretty much looking like a combat shotgun without a stock. She held in against Levric's wounds, and in turn pressed his flesh together with one hand and shot the weapon point blank with the other. Each shot left a staple firmly holding the wound shut. She repeated the operation until all wounds were a sucession of white staples knitting the skin together. "Let's hope he doesn't collapse now. I don't think his spleen bursted or his lungs were punctured". The Medicae Lieutenant was sweating profusely by the stress, the heat, and the fact she was in complete battle gear. After returning the staplegun to her narthecium, one of the nurses sprayed the wounded man's torso with the greenish liquid again and then placed several patches of what seemed old leather over Levric's wounds. "Synth-flesh. Hard to find, but guarantees a fast and clean scarring", explained the Lieutenant.

"It is done. Now his survival chances depends only on his own desire to survive and personal toughness", the Lieutenant said, removing her gloves completely stained with Levric's blood and dropping them to the ground. "If I may, I would like to transport him in my ambulance back to our lines, so we can keep replacing the transfusions. Also, my nurses will apply some blessed ointment over his burns, before placing his entire torso in a cast, although for now this is the least of our worries. His torso won't be good looking, but I have seen worse", she said as she extracted a delicate silk hankerchief that had a phrase embroided, and used it to clean her brow. If any of the higarans were fast readers, they could see the embroidery said Chicks dig scars. The surgeon looked at the higarans again "One of you should come with us, in case he wakes up, as more likely it is better for him to see a familiar face. If any of you is his friend, please come with us".

She directed the men to the back of her ambulance, which had two horizontal beds not unlikely the ones found in hospitals, although wrapped in some sort of plastic. In fact, those things seemed to have even small plastic pillows where the head should be. One of the beds was empty, while in the other was sitting a woman with her entire hand wrapped in the same leather-like patches the surgeon had said were synth-flesh. She was pale and looked ill, with her arm with spots of blood up to her shoulder and wearing only a white tank top over her torso, also stained with blood marks, alongside blue and red thermidorian pants and boots. She looked worried as they placed Levric in the bed opposite her. "Is he going to be ok?", she asked, her eyes wide open at the stapled wounds in the man's torso.

"Not your problem right now, gunnner", snarled the Lieutenant back, clearly angry at something. "And now lie back into your cot. you are not supposed to be sitting". After Levric was placed in the bed, the nurses held him in place with some belts, securing him to the place. The Lieutenant turned to the highest higaran authority in sight. "Let's switch places. Your man goes with him to the camp, and I go with you in your vehicles. Just promise me to take me back to camp unharmed".

[Bone Fort]

Demens listened to the Commissar as he ranted about whatever Comissar's like to rant about. When he finished, Demens spoke, managing to put up a perfectly stoic face despite his inner rage. His tone was respectfully, but had an ever-so-slight trace of "Kiss my a**" in it.

"But of course sir, as wasn't disrespecting the good Major hear, merely expressing my happiness that the Ogryn knows proper grammar. Such a rare gift is to be commended, hence my "I like you". I meant no disrespect to the good Major."

I WILL DANCE ON YOUR GRAVE.

He added on rapidly:

"I don't know what gave you the impression I meant disrespect, but I get the impression it may be the some sort of bias in you have in her favor due to a possible relationship your company has with hers, and if it is so I ask that you keep this theoretical personal matter out of decision making in order to maintain fairness and equality. We wouldn't want that Commissar, would we?"

... Total pu**y whip.... *Whip Noise*...

"And I don't believe the Ogryn meant any disrespect, either, he probably just didn't understand the full implications of his actions. And I understand we've all had a bad day, but the last thing we should be doing right now is going at each other's throats. This cluster-frak came from the disharmony between us all, which is something we need to fix if we are to properly serve the Imperium..."

What am I doing, I'm making myself a target... DISTRACTION.

"... Hold on, I need to take this."

He put his hand to his ear as if he was getting a communication on his vox bead.

"Yeeees?... Yeah... Go on... I see... That sounds bad... Scratch that, that is bad... one moment... Sorry, got to take this real quick, be back when the Colonel gets to us."

He then stepped outside and pretended to talk on his vox bead. He would quietly slip back in whenever the Colonel arrives.