++ MESSAGE CODE MAGENTA ++
++ TRANSPORT ORDERS: KALLINDRIAN 114TH, VENTRIAN 4TH, HJALSANIR V 8TH++
++ FROM: HIGH WARLORD JASKARNIR
TO: LORD GENERAL KRANA
IMMEDIATE TRANSPORT OF REGIMENTS TO HJALSANIR IV. COMBAT ORK THREAT. ELIMINATE ALL INFECTION. FAILURE WILL RESULT IN YOUR EXECUTION.
EMPEROR BE WITH YOU.
HIGH WARLORD JASKARNIR ++
* * * * *
++ MESSAGE CODE GREEN ++
++ MISSION DETAILS: KALLINDRIAN 114TH ++
++ FROM: LORD GENERAL KRANA
TO: COLONEL SKALLI, KALLINDRIAN 114TH
TARGET: NORTHERN POLAR CITY – HJALSANIR MINOR.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: CLEAR ORKS FROM CITY. MAKE SAFE SPACEPORT. SET UP FORWARD COMMAND POST FOR FURTHER OPERATIONS.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: SECURE CITIZENS. RETAKE POWER PLANTS.
BLESSINGS OF THE GOD-EMPEROR
LORD GENERAL KRANA ++
* * * * *
3 Months Beforehand …
“Captain, we are reading anomalous signals in the beta-segment transport lane. Permission to deep-scan?”
“Permission granted, Ensign.”
“God Emperor protect us … Captain, we are reading numerous Orkoid life signs. Anomaly appears to be an Epsilon-class space hulk. At least 4 different ships and 3 asteroids. Minimum 100,000 Orkoid life forms. 10 Devastator-class cannon, 80 Ravager class broadside cannon, over 300 light guns. Tactica recommendation: engage with full lance battery, order all armed ships to begin assault. Pray to survive the battle, for we have barely the firepower to harm the beast.”
“Make it so! If we cannot kill it, we will die trying! Launch all interceptors, order all planetary defenses to open fire at any weak points, and mobilize all orbital defenders. We will sell our lives dearly, friends. Open fire!”
* * * * *
The sky above blazed into life, light filling the night sky as the battle in space lit the dark side of the planet. In a brief hour, over a hundred ships fell attempting to destroy the hulk, and many others were crippled. Breaking through the orbital defenses, the hulk fell onto the planet like the descending fist of an angry god. For weeks afterwards, the dust cloud thrown up from its landing blanketed the skies, the population living in a perpetual gloom. As the dust settled, the real problems began. A horde of Orks, the survivors of the crash, came howling out from the crash site, swiftly overwhelming the few PDF soldiers on the planet. Within another week, the entire world was Ork territory, and the frantic, panicked distress signals from the capital had only just been received.
* * * * *
“Sir, they’re coming!” Bellowed the young trooper, slipping a clip into his lasgun.
“I know, soldier. Keep them in your sights, and make every shot count. We may fall, but the brutes will regret their attack.” The captain, barely a year older, said, his voice quavering and lacking in conviction.
The huge cloud kicked up behind the rampaging Ork force obscured the horizon, and the greenskins were close enough to see details: their red-painted vehicles, the crude but deadly weapons, their massive, hulking leaders. All along the walls, men broke and ran, only to be shot dead by their officers.
“Open fire with all wall defenses.” Hissed a voice through the comm-links, and along the entire 10 kilometer curtain wall heavy bolters, lascannons and rocket launchers blasted into life, scything through the innumerable Ork horde.
Even as the ground was churned to mud by the green blood and clomping feet, the first of the Ork artillery shells hit the wall, blasting men and rubble hundreds of metres. The Orks who had reached the wall were trying to climb with their bare hands and were slipping back down, lasgun volleys blasting through their ranks until a series of devastating explosions ripped a hole in the wall and the greenskin horde poured through.
Hjalsanir Prime had fallen.
* * * * *
1 week beforehand …
“Men of the Kallindrian 114th, you already,”
“Know who we are, and where we are going.”
“Now it is time,”
“For you to learn what you are going,”
“There for. The planet,”
“Hjalsanir has,”
“FFaalllleenn.”
“You are to,”
“Take the landing craft,”
“And launch an assault,”
“On the North Polar City,”
“Hjalsanir Minor,”
“Which must be,”
“Taken for the,”
“Campaign to succeed.”
The twin Commissars hissed, each finishing the other’s sentences. They stood together, identical in every way, from their polished black boots to their shiny peaked caps. The brothers Clatain, tall, slender and deadly, darkly inspirational and with a gallows humour, they were already feared by the young Kallindrian regiment, and shown respect, even though they were offworlders. The Colonel who stood with them, a polar Kallindrian, dark-skinned and pale-haired, in rumpled snow fatigues and with a permanent three-day growth on his face, struck a stark contrast with the razor-edged Commissars, and he was loved by his men for it. Patrjik Skalli, Colonel of the Kallindrin 114th, Wolf hunter, adopted as the regimental mascot by the polars and non-polars alike (though with a hint of resentment from the non-polars).
“Alright lads, you know the drills. We drop in by landing craft, bag us some Ork heads, and take the spaceport so’s the others can get in to help us. Keep your eyes peeled, your guns charged and your knives ready and you should be alright. You’ll be loaded onto the craft once we hit orbit in about a week, so sharpen up your training and keep ready.” The Colonel said amicably, then dismissed the men with a wave.
* * * * *
Squad Gamma-Eta-14, Squad Delta-Epsilon-5 and Squad Pi-Kappa-9 were loaded onto the landing craft.
“Alright lads,” Bellowed Sergeant Kjaski, “We’re going in!”
Squad Pi-Kappa-9, under Sergeant Hrask’kar, strapped themselves in. Jakken the medic. Gorkraj the voxman. M’gn’s the rocket-man. Trooper Jurgis, Trooper Krakjah and the fiery Trooper Jilikian. Snipers Zavreth and Jarrek. Flamer R’nshai. Little did they know the role they were to play.
“LAUNCH!” Came the cry from the cockpit, and all the Guardsmen were slammed back in their seats as the lander blasted from the troop ship and into the planetary atmosphere.
All around there were explosions and the craft shook and shuddered as they blasted it from side to side, rattling the soldiers about like beads in a maraca. Suddenly the blasts stopped.
“We’re through the exterior defenses! All we have left to worry about are the,” Yelled the pilot, but was cut off by a massive blast which tore the front off the lander.
“We’re going down!” exclaimed Sergeant Kjaski, “Brace positions!”
As the lander smashed into the remains of a skyscraper, all the soldiers lost consciousness. When they awoke, Squad Pi-Kappa-9 found that all the other Guardsmen were dead, and they were alone and lost in a hostile city.