Men of the 89th: Chapter 1

The dropship rocked violently on approach. The commissar looked about the cabin observing the troopers during the decent. Some remained calm even passing a few lho sticks back and forth, while others had a concerned look on their face. Most of the men coming to reinforce the companies were greenhorns, with a few veterans in their midst; mostly NCOs. The Commissar himself wasn't new to a fight. While his experiences on the front were lacking, he was by no means new to war. Not many of the men would talk to him, nor did he try to talk to them. it was as if he sat alone on his own dropship. The only person who attempted to bring up a conversation with the commissar was a trooper by the name of Ulian Sweker. His armor was in near perfect condition and it seemed as if he had an officers rank painted on his helmet, but he was by no means and officer. Ulian was the son of a Noble in a nearby planetary system sent off to war to bring honor to his families name. Despite his courage to talk to the Commissar, a fellow noble in his mind, he was a timid creature, unfit for the horrors that awaited him planetside. He was prattling about his home, or his family's noble tradition of leading men to battle. Mostly lost of the Commissar, he was ignoring the man when he called to an NCO across the cabin. "Sergeant, I am assuming you've talked to the men before we boarded? No manner of speaking need be done on my part?" The commissars voice drowned out by the ships rocking and other ambient noises The sergeant nodded. Then he tapped the side of his helmet. "Yes sir, but I've never been good at a rousing speech, just giving orders. If you want words of encouragement they'll come have to come from you." The commissar cringed to himself, he gave the men one of his painstakingly memorized speeches, that did little to invigorate them rather than take another attempt, he was just happy that his bit of speaking was done.

The passengers were tossed about in their seats as the retro-boosters kicked in. Within minutes the Dropship touched down in a small imperial fortress that was made centuries ago, and still standing strong. The doors began to open and the harsh dessert sunlight torrented into the dark cabin causing the Commissar to shield his eyes. All the troopers got up from their seats and began rushing out of the ship. Instantly being attacked by the powerful Goben heat. The commissar, Sweker, and the Sergeant were the last to leave. The Commissar was adjusting his greatcoat when an officer and his assistant approached him. "Officer, who is in charge here?" "You're looking at him, Captain Caleb Cassin, sir." Cassin was a man in his mid forties. He had been with the 89th since he could shoot a lasrifle. The freshly painted captain's rank was all the Commissar needed to see to understand the situation. Cassin was given the rank because the previous captain died. He was given a field promotion that would mostly be hardly official in any means. The Commissar paid no heed to the possible lack of adherence to imperial regulation long enough to be briefed by the captain. "Commissar, the situation isn't looking good. I've got two companies here, if you can call them that, with maybe a good hundred men between us both. Right now I'm in command of Beta and Delta companies for the time being. If you want to know how Beta is doing talk to Lt. Vars, hes on the front right now." Almost as if their arrival was the signal, poorly aimed artillery strikes began going off around the base. Sweker and the Commissar both ducked, Cassin didn't appear to be phased. Cassin noticed the pathetic man next to the commissar with with blatant disregard to his stature he pointed with an open hand at him. "And who is this?"

"First Lieutenant Ulian Sweker, son of Adrian Sweker of the House Sweker reporting." The noble snapped to attention and popped a hasty salute; Cassin just rolled his eyes. "And I suppose you expect me to give you command of my men?" Sweker tried to maintain his barring as more shells burst around the base. "From here on out, I am calling you sergeant Sweker. You're going to be my orderly until I find a use for you. I have enough good officers, I don't need a bad one." Cassin showing his obvious disdain for the child progeny of his clan. The last thing they needed was a glory hogging officer in charge sending his precious few men to die in some suicide mission so he could get a medal to show off to 'daddy'. The Commissar seemed to fight off a smug smile as Cassin berated the young Noble. "Where are your other officers?" "Scattered all to hell, I have about four platoons separated and surrounded out there." He gestured the commissar to walk with him. He continued to brief the commissar on the situation, how the regiment was barely standing, and that with the compliment of troops the received that they had enough men to leave the compound with Beta company and regroup with the scattered Platoons. He lead them passed several wounded troopers awaiting triage at the medicade. They were bloodied and screaming for loved ones as they passed and apothecaries were tending to as many as they could. Sweker turned pale and pressed his hand against his mouth to suppress his gagging. Every so often the artillery would score a good hit and cries for medics and surgeons could be heard. causing troopers to scramble across the base. though it seemed like the base was in confusion, this was an every day occurrence. Just as it seemed the barrage hit its zenith, it went dead. Cassin's face became very serious. "Shit."

The silence overwhelmed the base, the fresh troopers who just hit planetside started to raise their heads. Those that have been stranded at the base started to rush to the defenses. Cassin started shouting and telling the men to get ready for an attack. Troopers grabbed their lasrifles and supplies and ran towards the trench line carved around the entire base. There was activity everywhere. The chatter over the vox became chaotic and focused around troop deployment. The cacophony of orders replaced the silence. Cassin's gait changed from a walk to an all out sprint for his equipment. He picked up his lasrifle and slung it over his shoulder as he picked up as many frag grenades as he could, placing them on his harness and belt. He eyed a melta bomb; he was surprised there were any left. He grabbed it and placed it in a pouch on his belt. "Do you really think you'll need it?" Sweker spoke timidly "You never know when you'll need what, so rule of thumb, grab everything." He began to run towards the line, the Commissar stopping him. "Captain where are you going? You are the Officer in charge, you should post in the command center." "With all due respects, we need every hand available, if you were smart you;d grab a rifle and hit the lines as well. That IS our command center." He rushed off towards the trench-line.

Sweker reluctantly followed suit. Troopers were hitting the trench-line and leveling their lasrifles down range. The sergeants organizing the men making sure that the men were where they needed to be. They tested the vox channels to make sure their communications worked. Cassin entered the battered trench with the Commissar close behind. The Captain tapped the side of his helmet opening and closing a vox channel. "Delta company report." "Sergeant Corben here, Second Platoon accounted for and in position." "Sergeant Randolf, Thrid and fifth Platoons in position" The commissar overheard the conversation, but what he did not know was that the four platoons present were still understrength. With the additional reinforcement, a handful of three hundred fifty men held a half mile length of trench. "Men of Cadia, you do the Imperium proud. The orkz have tried to take this base hundreds of time, and have failed hundreds of times. Today is no different. Keep fire down range, stay alert, and keep the trooper next to you alive. I'll see you all after this in the mess hall for some amesec after this!" The line erupted into a war cry exclusive to those two companies. As the cheering subsided, the mirages in the distance started to take shape. Soon they could point out figures. At the fore front of the rush was the smaller gretchins, behind them were the hulking Orkz. They were a good four hundred meters away and occasionally a few shots would ring out. The Cadians held firm at the aimless shots "Max engagement ranges is two hundred meters, keep the heavy bolters firing to slow them down. I think I can raise some fire support." They watched as the orkz came closer, and the war cries grew louder. Squad leaders started counting off distances into vox channels, till finally the green tide hit the magic line; The hammer of the Imperium unleashed upon them.

Heavy bolter fire rang out causing orkz to disappear into red mist clouds. The crack of lass fire was deafening. Sergeants screamed into their vox to issue orders. The Ork hordes were slowed in their advance, but not by much. Every ork that fell another was more than happy to take his place, only to be cut down himself. They charged forward not caring about cover, just only to scream as loud as they could and shoot their guns towards the guardsmen. Occasionally they would hit something. As they were returning fire, when Sweker mustered the courage to peer over the parapet the man next to him took a bullet to his throat and his blood splattered over his face. The poor Ulian dropped back down cowering in the fetal position. Cassin saw him, leaned over, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up. "Fire your frakking weapon, or I'll make you affix your bayonet." Cassin's yelling barely heard over the gunfire. Sweker got to his feet, his legs shaking, as he began to fire his weapon. The orkz kept getting closer to the trench-line, their advance hardly impeded, and their shots becoming more accurate. Now even some of the more grizzled vets started to duck occasionally, to Cassin's, and other NCO's swearing. Every second a trooper spent ducking is an extra ork that got to live. Soon they were close enough that troopers began lobbing grenades at them. Each explosion taking several orkz with them. This held them back until they ran out of grenades to throw at them. Reports began to come in stating that the okrz were in the trenches and that hand to hand fighting was breaking out. "Third Platoon, second squad, they've AARGH" Cassin clenched his teeth with each report. Till finally it seemed the Emperor decided to look over the battlefield. "35th Artillery regiment, Need a helping hand 89th?"

"About time you assholes stopped eating breakfast!" Cassin belted out almost in a chuckle. He began to give coordinates and specifics for the fire mission, but each time an explosion would ring out next to him and the 35th would reply 'Say again?'. Cassin couldn't spare the few seconds to clearly vox the proper requesting procedures; the orks were co close he could almost count the teeth in their heads as they blew up. "Oh hell, Just give me the usual!" "Roger, full barrage on your position, comin up." As Cassin was about to vox the other leaders about the fire support, his voxtrooper exploded. He let out a string of expletives crude enough to make a daemon blush. He grabbed Sweker, still shaking, and ordered him to run down the line and warn everyone about the incoming artillery. After bit of rifle oriented persuasion he ran off. Just as the orkz were about the overrun the trench the sky opened up on the charging hordes. Everyone was getting showered in dirt, mud and random ork bits. The men fought on with renewed vigor, fighting the orkz out of their trenches and managing to push the remaining orkz back into artillery fire. A few orkz would still manage to get through. One Such was charging straight at Cassin, a nob. Cassin squeezed his trigger and his lassrifle whined at him. He dropped his lassrifle and pulled out his melta bomb. The Nob saw him discard his weapon, and let out a loud warcry, willing to take Cassin's challenge. As it took a step closer it turned into a large red cloud as it was impacted directly by an incoming shell. Confused, Cassin put the melta bomb back, and let let a disappointed sigh. Soon the attack was broken, and what few orkz that had a brain in their head were turning around and falling back.

A few shots rang out as they cut down the fleeing enemy, but mostly cheers and chants were heard around the base. Some troopers were marking the occasion of another victory in some way, a few etched marks into their armor, a fad that swept the base. Cassin just let out another victorious sigh. He'd have to vox back to the 35th about another good artillery strike, and hear them try to hog all the glory. That was as soon as he found another vox caster. Medics rushed back and forth between the line and the Medicaed, carrying wounded troopers on gurneys. Those that could walk patched themselves up with makeshift bandages and hobbled to the aid station. Cassin gathered what squad leaders with voxcasters as he could to assemble people for an after action report. In the meantime, he headed off with the Commissar to the mess hall for a well earned 'meal'. This was the first time the Commissar had ever been on the front line, normally he was comfortable at a fallback line, or some secondary line of defense where he'd get to relax. He was shaking somewhat, more from the adrenaline than the fear of death. He looked at his once immaculate greatcoat, now stained with mud and blood, and let out a sigh. "That was an excellent display of gallantry Captain, worthy of praise." Cassin looked at the commissar and subtly rolled his eyes. "This is a common occurrence, it's almost daily." "Really? How long have you been out here?" "Almost three months now, this base will fall eventually, I just hope we aren't here when it does." After the leaders wre debriefed and the casualty reports were finalized Cassin set the base on a 'clean up' detail. Troopers would have to pile the ork corpses and burn them. Longlas troopers were on over watch making sure that any orks that managed to get back up would go back down.

Cassin patrolled the base with the Commissar and one of his trusted Sergeants Feris Corben. Corben was older than Cassin, but showed it a great deal more. A tall bald man, Corben carried many scars on him. He was a grizzled vet, that had fought alongside Cassin since before the war on Apreia. A calm and level-headed leader who worked well under pressure. Corben appeared to be as apathetic over the victory as Cassin was. "When do you think we'll get the order to move out and rejoin with the stranded platoons?" "I don't care what command says, we'll head out soon to go get them. We've been acting without commands orders for some time now." "Do you think Tilman forgot about us?" "The Colonel has orkz so far up his ass that he needs artillery support just to shit. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us abandoning the base." The Commissar perked up "Abandoning the base!" He repeated in shock "How can you even think of leaving one of his majesty's encampments to the dirty xenos?" "Because I'll order a full barrage on the base as day after we leave. We have an evacuation being organized already."

Troopers were running around with crates and other important items into chimeras and other transports, preparing to move out. The 89th Regiment itself wasn't deployed with much in the way of armor, so what few armored assets they had were valuable, and kept safe. Delta and Beta companies would part ways as they both left to reconnect lost elements. A Parting that was harder than they thought it would be. In terms of familiar relationships Delta and Beta were the equivalents of brothers, they would always take part in the same battles. Though Cassin had plans to join up with them later on at the Goben Capitol city. The commissar continued to protest, and Cassin continued to ignore him. When he threatened punishment Cassin when on to explain how many good officers were lost out there and possibly running out of supplies. The stubborn Commissar wouldn't budge, then Cassin told him about the last Leman Russ that was also stranded. Originally the 89th had a single company dedicated to armored support, of the hundred tanks, only three remained, and one of them was nearby. The Commissar finally conceded and went along with Cassin; the prospect of defending the base all by himself wasn't to appealing either. As they were making their way to a Chimera Sweker finally found Cassin. He let out a quiet 'damn' seeing that he managed to live through the battle. He told him to board a different chimera than him, for some make work reason.

The base was emptying, all important documents had been boxed up. All vital supplies stored. It was like residents of a house moving out, all that remained was a shell of a base, and the signs of what used to remain. The commissar and Cassin boarded the chimera along with several other troopers of a squad with the self appointed name of the "hardhead squad". It was made up of Trooper Galviston, a young hot head headed trooper that was always talking about something. Trooper Harel a quieter, by comparison, trooper that was new to the squad, but quickly earning his stay, and Sergeant Golber, he put up with them. "So what is the next course of action Captain?" The commissar spoke "We're heading north to link of with a couple of my officers. Lt. Henris Gauv, and Lt Kanta Kaila. They last reported in at a small town about an hours ride away. That's where we go first." The door to the chimera closed and the convoy moved out. Occasional chatter was heard through the vox, and Trooper Galviston was talking about some inane topic. After a long time of his silence, Trooper Galviston, started to sing a popular song from a different planet "Her name is Corel... I have a dream about her..." Trooper Harel picks up the next line. Then another trooper. Soon it picks up and they all begin to sing "I'm just a hive world scumbag, baby!" The convoy continued to drive off into the dessert until the base is just a ripple in the mirage.