Hua Yuan Exterminator Guardsmen

Battle Cry	"Nullus est instar Domus!"
Founding	Sometime in the 41th Millennium
Homeworld	Hua Yuan
Strength	1200 regiments
Specialty	Hive Warfare, Surgical Strikes, Lights and Noise
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Cyan, Hot Pink, Beige and esotaric camo patterns.

Cyberpunk Hong Kong/Kowloon Imperial Guard. What could go wrong?

~~A continued affirmation that /tg/ will stop at nothing until the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium contains every single conceivable thing ever.~~ Or, you know, that there are some pretty robust creation tools that fa/tg/uys are able to use prolifically and to great benefit.

The Exterminators

The Regimental Insignia: Yuan, The Garden.

In the grimdark depths of Hua Yuan's singular, eponymous hive city, there are only gangers, dead bugs, and disco. Or, at least, that is the hive’s reputation. The Hua Yuan Regiments are experts in pest control, shock and disorientation tactics, and urban warfare, none moreso than the Hua Yuan 1st Exterminators. The regiment is renowned for their use of neon-colored and luminescent-adorned armor, initially intended to blend in with the underhive’s unique lighting arrangements. Over time, the Exterminator regiments came to incorporate their "unique" aesthetic taste into their regimental tactics, making extensive use of fireworks, disorienting lights, and multicolored smoke bombs to confuse and isolate enemy units. The Exterminators’ ranks are drawn from the first-born children of all classes of the cramped industrial city; administratum clerks have speculated that the decision to include underclass conscripts may explain the Exterminators’ penchant for leaving colorful graffiti everywhere they're deployed. Despite these eccentricities, their origins in the extraordinarily-cramped and dangerous mining city have made the Exterminators ruthlessly efficient when confronting hive gangers, on other worlds or their own.

Of the 1200 odd regiments that have been created on Hua Yuan, nearly one half of them are "Exterminator" regiments, specializing in their distinctive style of bright, loud, and up-close and personal combat. These are supported by some 250 Armored regiments, and 400 conventional guard units also trained from the firstborn of Hua Yuan.

Hua Yuan Exterminator Regiments

All Regiments raised on Hua Yuan can trace their history back to what would become the Hua Yuan 1st Exterminators. In 899.M41, following the surfacing and attempted uprising of a Gene Stealer cult, the Hua Yuan 1st Regiment became famous among the forces present for their successful engagements against the Tyranids, their familiarity with tight urban combat, and usage of unconventional tactics. Alongside the Sororitas present on the planet, they quickly assisted in beating back the infestation, and earned the nickname "Exterminators." Members of the regiment rapidly developed a hatred of Tyranids, which was only increased by some members secret use of a special combat stim made from Termagaunt adrenal gland which allowed them to see Tyranid warp signatures at heavy toll on their body and mind.

The massively crowded environment makes law enforcement and public order a constant issue on Hua Yuan. As a result, many of the recruits are well accustomed to violence and combat. Their temperament is rough and obnoxious, which only ever gets covered up by their extensive training in the Exterminator forces, never removed. This unique personality has led to some of the Exterminator's more cherished customs: Looting and trophy taking. Whenever they engage an enemy, whatever pieces weren't destroyed will be wisked away back home to flaunt their feats. In addition to the standard equipment, veteran guardsmen will often be adorned with Tyranid skeletal remains, pieces of repurposed tau armor (usually covered in profanity), scrap ork contraptions, and anything else they can get their hands on. Some have even looted Eldar soulstones, incorporating then in whatever way they can.

In the aftermath of the fighting, the 1st Regiment's unorthodox tactics attracted much in the way of positive attention from Administratum and the nickname was made not just an official name for the regiment, but a unit classification as well. Their first engagement after earning this title left the Hive covered in graffiti saying "Exterminators were here".

Since, over 500 Exterminator Regiments have been created on Hua Yuan, all building upon the unique training and tactics of the 1st Regiment.

Hua Yuan Guard Regiments

Whilst Hua Yuan specializes in training elite hive fighting Exterminator units, between requirements for more generalized forces, washouts from the Exterminators' intense training, and increased tithe demands, conventional Guard Regiments are also frequently raised and trained on Hua Yuan. Such regiments are generally seen as mediocre forces in comparison to the more specialized Exterminator units, are equipped with relatively poorly made local lasguns, and are the origin of the phrase "Hua Yuan lightshow."

Hua Yuan Armored Regiments

Hua Yuan Armored Regiments share their footslogging comrade's experience in fighting urban combat, especially in tightly packed environments. Their tactics are therefore typically based upon area control, utilizing their heavy firepower and armor to block off major thoroughfares and working in conjunction with infantry to cut off pathways, allowing friendly units to shape the battle in their own favor.

As a result of this tactical doctrine, Hua Yuan Armored units are primarily made up of light armor, such as several Chimera variants, modified Centaur AFVs, Cyclops RDVs, and occasionally Tauros when fighting in more open environments. Additionally, due to the subterranean nature of Hua Yuan, Armored units will occasionally utilize Termite Burrowing Vehicles to great effect to break enemy fortifications and (unconventionally,) to destabilize the very earth beneath entrenched enemy positions. Additionally, units will frequently utilize deployment of Sentinel units to supplement infantry movement, deploy dazzle weapons, and move into support positions otherwise inaccessible to other armored units.

Notable Hua Yuan Regiments

Hua Yuan 1st Exterminators - The original Exterminator Regiment, and masters of hive fighting.

Hua Yuan 43rd Line Infantry - The first regiment raised solely from losers of a local gang war, creating a local practice of drafting gangers from the losing side of gang wars to avoid "a slaughter not advancing the cause of man." While the 43rd were a reasonably successful Line infantry regiment, successive ganger regiments would be little better than penal regiments. The creating of such units also lead to founding a of a Minor Schola to train commissars specifically for such units.

Hua Yuan 13th Penal "Razorgirls" - A Penal regiments raised from a group of all female pit fighters with many bionic limbs who nearly escaped and managed to kill several nobles, the regiment was raised on the condition of its surrender.

Standard kit

One field uniform

One set of poor weather gear

One lascarbine (Main Weapon) with four charge packs and the Compact modification

Two Frag Grenades

Two Smoke Grenades

Two Krak Grendades

One suit of light carapace armor

One microbead

One Respirator/Gas Mask

One rucksack or sling bag

One set of basic tools

One mess kit and one water canteen

One blanket and one sleep bag

One rechargeable lamp pack

One grooming kit

One set of cognomen tags or equivalent identification

One primer or instructional handbook

Combat sustenance rations, Two weeks’ supply

Tyranid Dust stims x 14

Enlisted Ranks: One Mono Knife
Officer Ranks: One Cerimonial Blade.

Unique Equipment

Lasguns

Although the vast majority of Hua Yuan‘s Guard forces use imported Galaxy or Accatran pattern lasguns, a large number of local designs have been catalogued by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Collectively known as HY-Grade Las Weapons, these locally manufactured devices are infamous for their ubiquity in the lower levels of the hive as well as their unreliability. Although inexpensive to manufacture (and thus perfect for use by underhive gangs), substandard materials and improper fabrication techniques routinely lead to problems not suffered by equivalent armaments. Among the most commonly reported is a failure to focus photon beams correctly, as well vastly fluctuating power outputs. These two factors often manifest in the weapon appearing to fire differently coloured beams between shots, often with substantially varying levels of killing power .

Hua Yuan soldiers issued with locally sourced weaponry often seek out replacements as soon as it is possible to do so, to the dismay of quartermasters from allied regiments. Nevertheless, enough have been observed in combat by other regiments for the phrase “a Hua Yuan lightshow” (a barrage that looks impressive but fails to do any real damage) has entered Guard cant in several theatres.

Blinkers

Another tool in the arsenal of the Hua Yuan Exterminators is the diverse set of 'blinkers'. These small devices consist of high intensity light bulbs hooked to self contained power sources and rudimentary alternating systems. These tools play an important role in the Exterminator's 'Colors and Mayhem' doctrine, serving to add yet another layer of disorientation and misdirection to the already cacophonous displays utilized.

These devices are all flash and no bang, simply projecting their blindingly bright light at random intervals to distract and disorient foes. Blinkers can be thrown or set as traps and are primarily used on cultists, rebels and humanoid enemies.

To maintain stores, engineseers and sharper guardsmen manufacturer these devices in the field with locally sourced [Read: looted] materials. As they are hive specialists, there is rarely a lack of material. The complexity of the devices vary from division to division, with the more elite ones, such as the Fifth Division, using specific wavelengths and colors that their optics are polarized against. This allows them to use the devices more freely and tactically against their foes. The less experienced or less Specialized Divisions are content with making rudimentary devices, making up for the danger of blinding themselves with rigorous drilling in communication and usage.

Tyranid Dust Stimulants

A special combat stim made from powdered Termagaunt nervous tissue, Tyranid Dust is a commonly utilized drug among members of Exterminator Regiments. Inducing in those who consume large quantities of it the ability to "see" Tyranid warp signatures, at the cost of their ability to see color. Those who consume such quantities of "'nid Dust" are also prone to losing their self control, entering a hyperfocused trance, in which they will obsessively seek out and attempt to kill any Tyranids they can find. Killing Tyranids in this state tends to induce a strange trance-like state that allows users to better resist Tyranid psyker attacks.

The Crunch

Regiment Classification: Standard Guard Regiment
Regiment Demographic: Firstborn
Nature of Recruitment: Standard conscription
Homeworld Designation: Hive World
Homeworld Terrain: Dead World
Regiment Core Units: Infantry
Specialization: Hive Warfare
Loyalty Rating: Adherent (standard)
Special Equipment: War Trophies
Regiment Creed: For The Homeworld
Regiment Friends: Imperial Guard ("Occupying" Praetorians)
Regiment Enemies: Tyranids

Only War Statblock

Hua Yuan 1st Exterminator Regiment

Hive world: +3 to any two of Agility, fellowship, and perception
Skills: Common Lore (Imperium), Deceive, and Linguistics (Low Gothic)
Accustomed to Crowds: Crowds do not count as difficult terrain, When running or charging Hive worlders take no penalty to agi tests to keep their feet.
Hivebound: -10 Survival checks outside of artificial environments.
Urban Violence: Start with one of the following talents; Heightened Senses (Hearing), Paranoia, or Unremarkable.
Starting Wounds: Start with -1 wound.
Commander type: Maverick (2 points)
Starting talents: Resitance (Fear)
Regiment type: Line Infantry (2)
Characteristics: +3 Strength, –3 Intelligence
Starting Skills: Athletics
Starting Talents: Rapid Reload
Standard Kit: One M36 lasgun and four charge packs per
Training doctrine: Close Quarters Battle (5)
Starting Talent: Double Team or Combat Master
Special: Members of regiments that specialise in Close Quarters Battle gain an additional +10 bonus to all Ballistic Skill Tests made at Point-Blank Range.

Favored Rare Weapons

Basic: Meltagun
Heavy: Plasma Cannon

Special Rules

Tyranid Dust Stims: When taken in near overdose levels (5 doses) drains color from the user's vision and reveals Tyranid and genestealer warp signatures. Gives the user an overwhelming desire to kill any seen Tyranids, and must pass a -40 willpower to retreat from combat with Tyranids. Each Tyranid killed in melee by the user while affected grants +5 permanently for willpower tests against Tyranid psykers to a max of +30.

Writefaggotry

I Have Fought Them

I have lived in the underhive for longer than most, and am one of the few survivors of restoration movement. We mutants and outcasts had gathered arms and numbers for years under Boss Toad. Boss Toad's dark rituals made us green and near impossible to kill, when we declared open rebellion against the hive lords we were unstoppable, or so we thought. We had heard a company of hive warfare specialists had been brought from off world. We remained arrogant in our might as we tore through PDF and arbites with our number and toughness. Boss Toad made more green ones every day. The day after Boss Toad set up his headquarters in the captured water treatment plant we thought we had won. Boss Toad began to work a spell on the hive water supply that he said would ensure our victory. Then as we roared in victory, the world exploded in a haze of brightness and furious colors and sound. Then figures dripping the same ooze of colors repelled through the windows spewing light blue flames.

I saw Boss Toad flee in the crossfire to his captured chimera. These blazing blurs of pink and green didn't even pursue the Boss, and detonating more of their sound and fury disappeared as soon as they arrived. The haze cleared just soon enough that I managed to watch Boss Toad start the armored vehicle and I could see it explode in flare of pink. Our might brought low by a car bomb the rebellion faltered without leadership or our source of green ones.

Made in the Image of the First

Journal of Recruit Pvt. Trang, 132rd Exterminators (confiscated and destroyed)

Foreign hives are a special hell, but they are our hell. We like killing wannabe gangers in our backyards, that's easy, no need to try. Just bust down the door and let loose, if some escape, we cut them off a corridor down and finish the job. Try ambushing a xenos hive mind in unfamiliar terrain. Damn near impossible. Just avoiding ambushes is hard enough, getting shots off is almost a luxury before you're swarmed with bugs. So we need an edge, “Guant Stalkers”. The medics are making some seriously sketchy drug with stuff they brought from home and fucking 'Nid bits. They gave it to some quiet veterans in each squad who seemed familiar with it, those poor bastards with that dead stare in their eyes. Those guys left for a bit, and came back to their squads in a blood haze.

When Corporal Zhang returned the squad, the Red Pole sergeant put him in point. Within seconds, he broke into a sprint we didn't think was possible, with a bizarre, wordless determination. Everyone was bewildered, but he sprinted ahead, just calling out locations of things he shouldn't know. “Six little gun bugs and a Psyker bug below us, approaching.” We snapped back, secured breaching charges to the ground and waited. Zhang called, “40 meters... 25... 10... now.”

As our Red Pole blew the charges we threw in Blinkers. Zhang hit the ground the same time they did, his silence broken by deranged screams, armed with a fucking monoknife in one hand and a lascarbine in the other. We staggered for just a moment, switched on our filters and jumped after Zhang, the dust of the Blinkers filling the hallway. We poured las fire in the direction of the 'thrope, while Zhang was chopping and screaming in a crowd of termagants in the periphery. At least, that's what anyone could put together in the middle of a fire-fight full of lights and color. The 'gant bits flying everywhere was our major clue. After it taking a more shots than from a lasgun than anything should, the 'thrope quickly regained its bearings and threw witch fyre at us. Two good squadmates went down, blood splattered on the inside of their visor and leaking from their ear-slits, injuring most of the rest of us. We reopened fire as soon as the Emperor would let us, finally boiling that big bastard inside out with lasfire. We turned around to support Zhang, but found him covered from head to toe in blood 'n guts, grappling two on a pile of dead bugs. We wasted them while they were still disoriented by our entry enough to be pinned down. As the dust settled we saw Zhang, minus several of his fingers and pint of blood, holding a ripped off xeno's arm, and slamming it into his foe's head, with his knife was stuck in the xeno's gut.

Sarge shouted to him, “anymore bugs nearby?”, despite only being a few feet away. Zhang snapped his gaze up from the xeno corpse pile, making the greener of us jump a little, and looking back with glazed over eyes. He murmured, to no one in particular, “nothing left on this level. The bugs are pulling back to the under hive. We go there next.” Our medic hastily hit him with a sedative, and brought him back to our checkpoint fire base on a stretcher.

As we made our way to firebase, our Red Pole looked at me and joked, “A rookie survived, looks like our Leftenant will have some explaining to do,” the rest of the men started to laugh, until we remembered Zhang.

Sure enough, as soon as the rest of the platoon was back from 'Nid hunting, everyone with a rank less fancy than one a commanding officer might have was called to a “special training session” with the Platoon Red Pole and our Leftenant.

We were lead into a real barebones room, a re-purposed conference hall from the hive hotel we were using as a firebase. As soon as the last of us trickled in, the Platoon Red Pole locked the door behind us. The Leftenant stood in the front, surrounded by tired and sweaty guardsmen on all sides. “At ease, men. Congratulation on your promotions gentleman, you ten are now lance corporals and receive rights and traditions as Exterminators. Taking a few 'Nid skulls is no longer a punishable offense for you boys.” We shivered with a nervous pride. Most of us joined up from whatever shit-hole corner of The Garden we came from just to hear those words. “Any fool can blast a ganger coughing smoke” we all heard a thousand times back in basics, "hell, they do that themselves. The only guardmens worth a damn are the ones who can take home more of themselves than 'nid trophies they nab." We poor bastards, knowing more would die during this campaign than make it home, were swelling with an invincible pride. Hell, some of the boys even shed a tear.

“But,” continued the Leftenant, “Those rights come with hefty responsibilities, you will now be privy to the secrets of the Exterminators, and how it is some of the regiment manage to survive the fight with Tyranids. By being here you agree to keep these shameful secrets.” We would've agreed to arm wrestle with Orkz, we were so drunk off pride. “It's no secret to those inducted that the use of stimm synthesized from termagant nervous tissues circles around the garrison. The mere knowledge of it's existence is near enough to get everyone in the regiment executed for high heresy. The common practice is to mix diluted powdered 'guant brain with another compound found our home hive made from some mushrooms you men might be acquainted with. As it would have, this fungi has patterns that closely resemble that of a Tyranid strand of DNA. If ingested the user can see 'Nids through walls but all color drains his vision and he develops an overwhelming desire to kill. It takes a disciplined user to communicate to his team while under its effects, and the side effects are immense and debilitating, more than likely crippling for life. When this substance is offered to you by a fellow guardsmen, weigh the risks long and hard before you accept his offer.”

“You won't be operating in combat unless you have the experience necessary to keep your composure. The risk for friendly fire and jeopardized missions is far too high to allow fresh recruits on the battlefield under their influence. Any of you here today found ingesting this substance will be imprisoned, stripped of your rank, and possibly court marshaled. That is the dangers of partaking in this.”

He elaborated, “Introducing this substance into your system should only be down when you are as good as dead regardless.”

A grim silence fell over the room. I felt bold, still riding the high of the promotion, and asked, “Excuse me sir, but if this is so dangerous and heretical, why allow this to continue, sir?”

“Well,” said the Leftenant with the same somber tonality, “The drug is widely spread throughout the entire guard forces of Hua Yuan with direct contact with Tyranid forces. It is easy to synthesize, being done so on very insular levels. This makes it very hard to regulate and monitor. You had a firsthand account of what the substances capabilities are today, didn't you corporal. Despite the dangers, it can get some results that simply can not be ignored. Your Sargeant elaborate on the history of this practice.”

Our eyes turned to the Platoon Red Pole, a very large imposing man for a hive fighting unit. He was a something of a legend to us, he had been a member of the First before being transferred to us. He rarely spoke but carried a powerfist and wore what appeared to be carnifex fore claw carapace on his forearms and shins. To say he was pants-shitting intimidating was an understatement. He was sent to us after turning down a slot in the stormtroopers.

The Red Pole began in monotone as if it were prepared speech, “Near one hundred years ago, before the First were the famed regiment they are to today, they were conducting pre-operation preparations on of their introductory missions, a raid on a violent new gang in the lower hive. An offworld black-marketeer approached the newly constructed barracks a few days before the mission was set to commence. Some say it was Ollianus Pius himself come to aid his new brothers in the Guard, other say it was a missionary prophet blessed with a vision of the future, and the less religious minded say it was an Inquisitor who simply wanted to use us for an experiment. Nevertheless that man gave the founders’ of the First the first doses of 'Nid Dust. The results of ingesting it were horrific, but effective. It was a natural progression that popular stimms would be mixed with it.”

"This is more than likely all bullshit", he said flatly. "In reality, it is a used as a coping mechanism for the more psychologically damaged exterminators. It heightens what dulled senses are left after the many engagements an exterminator must go on. I have seen this make men perform miracles during engagements, slowly destroying what may be left of them in and out of combat. " being the sensitive man he is, he finished his warning with, "if any of you make this known to the inquisitorial forces, you will be executed as the heretic you are."

He returned to his tale, “The next day several of the First inhaled it before assaulting the Ganger headquarters despite the leftenant's very thorough warning. Thanks to this, we were able to become aware that the compound was laced with late generation genesteeler breed children. Had we entered with intent to save the kids we would have been massacred, had the first 'Guant Stalkers not seen through their deception proceeded to rip through them in a rage. The Exterminators would have been destroyed to man on their first mission. Instead, they were destroyed in a much slower, more productive process of injections.

After that we agreed to keep use using the Dust and keep it secret on pain of death. Anyone who reveals this is killed, along with their entire bloodline.”

I Have Lead Them

Personal Journal of Commissar Phisk entry 167

I have been assigned to the Hua Yuan Exterminators after reports of possible xenos corruption among the Veteran members. I linked up with the Exterminators Vets during one of their many recruiting trips home. I've met the Exterminators Vets briefly before they went throughout the hive recruiting, and their armour is very impressively reinforced with 'Nid carapace. I noticed however an abundance of 'guant skulls on some of the troopers as well small hole drilled in the base of 'guant skull that has been the source of these rumors of xeno corruption and worship. After dismissing the men to their recruiting duties I choose to follow an Exterminator officer covered in many xeno skulls including one that was yet drilled and seemed to be sealed in wax. I assumed tailing him would be easy due to his distinctive neon armour, however in the neon flashing light of the hive he was a challenge to track down. Through diligence or luck I followed him and witnessed their method of recruiting officer's first hand. The officer went to upper hive and collected his highborn volunteers and lead the young men deep into the lower hive.

The officer candidates were lead into an empty warehouse facing 10 enlisted Exterminator regulars and told to kill them. Those who did not immediately charge were dismissed. Hive War requires speed and aggression. The 5 brave souls who did charge were beaten nearly to death by waiting exterminators The officer, who I had begun to assume was a medical officer, stitched their major bleeding and then choked them unconscious. He then drilled that small hole in the 'Nid skull and mixed it a grey powder with the juice he extracted from the skull. To my misfortune I was then grabbed by two carapaced veterans who had discovered my vantage point. I firmly told them to unhand me or face death, but was ignored as they choked me to unconsciousness in a similar way as their recruits.

I was roused roughly outside of a small hab-block. With my five compatriots I was asked if I wanted to lead Exterminators and handed me two neon orange knives. Before I could voice my indignation, a rebreather was strapped to my head and I began to inhale the Tyranid compound. As I was pushed into the hab-block as the color faded from the world and I desired only its return. The drabness of the world enraged me as I charged into the block. Then I was saw the source of the drabness, xeno cultists in the hab, and charged them with my knives to which color returned as I killed and purged, the deception of human appearance faded as I saw the truth of these genestealer cults, I saw my allies gain color as they killed alongside me, then when we seemed overwhelmed and prepared to fall in this hell. The Exterminators crashed into the hab-block through the windows killing like neon angels. I awoke in their barracks feeling more ill than I have felt in my entire life, but reassured in purpose to fight alongside the Exterminators, although I felt the world still lacking somewhat in color until I donned my new commissar coat with comfortingly glowing pink and green before my eyes.

On Xenon or 'Nid Dust

Commissar Phisk's Report on Xeno Corruption [unsubmitted at request of the Ordo Xenos][Practice is Probationary Sanctioned for research purposes]

If one is to inspect the Tyranid trophies of an Exterminator, a rare thing as they tend to be quite protective of them, they would find that every single one has a uniform hole near the base. This whole is generally used for mounting, but is actually created for an entirely different purpose. The extraction of the Tyranids adrenal glands. The Exterminators are known to produce a wide variety of combat and leisure drugs from the chemicals that can be found therein. Usually taking the form of an iridescent and fine powder, every Exterminator has a unique ritual involving their consumption. Some smoke it, others snort it, a good number inject it, some eat it or mix it with recaf like a sweetner, and some still have figured how to huff it as an aerosol. In any form of administration the combat variet of the Tyranid sourced drugs invariablely increase reaction time, aggression, and even enhanced unit cohesion among those Exterminators who do it as a group. It's withdrawal symptoms are, unfortunately, punishing. Ranging from violent seizures, severe narcolepsy, or even hallucinations of being a Tyranid part of the Hivemind have been reported. This, combined with it's unusual sourcing and the insular nature of the Exterminators has meant the glittering Tyranid Dust has not spread beyond the Exterminators.

With the Colonel

One week after my brush with Xenon, I ordered to the Regimental Command office. My head ached like it had never before, making a mockery of my attempts to remain composed, moreso as I knocked on the Colonel's office door.

"Come in."

I stepped into the dim room, the lone occupant eyeing me from across his spartan desk. “Greetings Commissar Phisk.” Standing, Colonel Hong met me with a well mannered bow. “I trust your... unscheduled visit to the underhive was at the very least enlightening?”

Smug bastard, right though he may be.

“I understand you came here suspicious of our eccentricities," he said, gesturing to a chair before his desk. As I eased myself into the chair, he continued talking. "You may be wondering why I requested a commissar from outside the local Schola as opposed to one who would be better familiarized with our dance on the razor's edge of corruption.” I found the Colonel's self-assuredness stunning - he would risk a report of heresy to Munitorum and the Commissariat? I could but trust the Colonel had a good reason.

He looked back at me with a wry grin as he lit a cigar with a vaguely familiar odor. As his face settled back to a more somber expression, he continued. “It's no secret among the brass here that a major bug invasion is imminent in the next ten years, and the 1st will be in the thick of it. When the time comes, they could be possibly the most important regiment involved. The problem with our local Commissars is they are only experienced with dealing with our inferior penal regiments. Conscripted losers of gang wars, dosed to the hilt with 'Nid dust, given trash local las guns, and poured screaming on the Tyranid fire in hopes of quenching it. The lead of our Schola Commissar-General Fengxian is rumored to want to install one of his commissars in the first to expand his influence. His commissars don't care that the Exterminators are specialists, real soldiers, but explaining to a Commissar who leads little better penal units that charging directly through a tunnel after your enemy in a hive is never a good idea, and you're likely to end up with bolter holes in your head."

"I believe a commissar who has survived as long as yourself will realize the need for tactical discression. Your presence here keeps one of Mao's lackeys from compromising the First. If Mao has the backing of The First he could demand theater command from the Praetorians, the ambitious bastard.” “But you want to someone who will allow your men to operate with their 'cultural' differences permitted." I paused, wondering if he knew of my contacts in the Inquisition. "You would have killed me in an instant if you thought I would inform superiors of your Tyranid Dust.”

“Huan Yuan is a dangerous place for off-worlders,” he said, eyeing me through the smokey air. Not breaking eye contact, he slowly handed me one of his cigars.

“Welcome to First of Hua Yong. The Hive fleet will fall here, or no where"

Alone in Glory

The underhive signage vibrated and flickered. Its harsh purple glow cast Private Hsien’s shadow down the hall as he stepped through the hab unit’s open door and into the waiting darkness. Hsien could almost taste the shadows there was something palpable in the air, vaguely electric, and it wasn’t the usual stench of the lower levels. Outside of the narrow column of sickly neon light seeping past his body, the room was abnormally dark. The guardsman silently raised his lasrifle to his shoulder, readying his finger on the trigger, and dropped to a crouch. He swore softly under his breath, cursing the eternal hum of the underhive core. He couldn’t hear a thing, and didn’t dare step back outside. He was being watched.

In one quick motion, Hsien dropped his left hand, activating his adrena-kit and snatching the grenade from his belt. The “Hua Yuan Special” chirped briefly as he pressed the cycle button and tossed it underhand. There was no detonation when it met the floor, but a split second later the ‘nade projected a myriad of bright lights in every direction, each thin line tracing a random pinpoint pattern as it danced across the walls. The grenade simultaneously flashed a single bright white light once and began to emit a steady stream of shimmering pink smoke. The darkness was illuminated for a brief moment, and Hsien could see the creatures – a half dozen hunched, twisted figures with inhuman shapes, waiting in the far corners of the room. Blinded, each hissed, but Hsien was already moving. He blasted one creature’s head straight from its shoulders, a bit of gore splattering across its partners’ faces, then ducked, rolling into the shadows just as the monstrous abominations sprang into action.

The creatures may have been raised in the dark, but they were no match for Hua Yuan’s finest in the thick fluorescent smoke. As the Special’s bright tracer lines spun around the room and pierced through the haze, Hsien used them to judge the distance of each creature. He blasted the nearest two in quick succession – one crashing to the ground as its knee evaporated, the other left clutching what was left of its face. The three survivors were almost on him now, but Hsien was ready. As the first creature reached out to grab him, he fired into its chest at point blank. The body fell away, still grasping towards him futilely, and Hsien bashed another with the butt of his gun and it, too, collapsed. The private felt a clawed hand tear across his shoulder, but the adrenaline mixture pumping through his veins dulled the pain. He spun on one heel, ducking a second swing, and downed the creature with two quick shots to the abdomen. The private didn’t allow himself a second to catch his breath. The xenos he’d bunted earlier was getting back up, and he couldn’t allow that. He screamed and unleashed a volley of orange las bolts, cutting it in half at the waist. As if the Emperor himself were directing the show, the Special ended its routine just as the cultist’s upper body slid to the floor. Hsien couldn’t help but grin – not a bad performance, all things considered.

Gallery

The Regimental Colours of the 1st Exterminators
The banner of the Hua Yuan Firebreather Division
The 5th Scouting Division's Colors and motto "five minute Response Unit"
Colonel Yeoh Hong. The leader of the Hua Yaun 1st
Two Guardsmen of the Hua Yuan 1st Exterminators preforming a Flash and Clear Room breach during intense hive combat.
A Basic Guardsman and his Sergeant in Combat dress
Three Guardsmen from the Hua Yuan Exterminators Sporting Beige fatigues under their Flack Armour for operations in more 'dull' Environments.
A Grenadier, one of the most elite Bug killers in the Exterminator's roster.
A member of the regiment sporting his off-duty uniform
Fresh members are given enforcer duties in the hive, Preforming the job of Arbites. Ruthless in rooting out heresy and Mutation.
The First Rendition of the Regimental colour scheme
A Hua Yuan Veteran Sporting his hard won Trophies.
A Sentinel in service of the Hua Yuan Exterminators. Mounted with Specialized gear in line with the Regiments 'Colors and Mayhem' doctrine of hive warfare
An officer armed with a Powerfist.