== Contempt for the Fallen ==
I sat calmly against our transport Chimera, waiting for something to happen. I was sitting idly with my Command squad perched at the Crest of a hill. We had parked our transport tank by the side of the road because it was an excellent vantage point. From here we could watch the rolling mounds of earth descending into the lush river valley.
I made sure to watch my own men as well. I had known for years that it was not only a commander’s duty to observe the actions of the enemy, but to observe the actions of the men under his command. Knowing your men is the key to commanding them.
Corporal Bix was seated on top of the chimera, operating his Master Comm-link diligently. Privates Kim and Ryaan had put aside their Heavy Flamethrower and Fuel tanks and started playing cards. Sergeant Brock Weast was standing on the rocky outcrop watching the valley below with binoculars.
The forested hills of this world were calm, and as such we found them to be quite boring. The most dangerous animal was nothing but Grox bait. In fact, that’s just what we called it. Groxbait. It was nothing but a docile, gangly mammal that nibbled on harmless plants.
Large swathes of the forest had been cleared in several places, and a massive mound of green bodies lay at the center of each. These mountains burned fiercely, and released a repulsive odor that made our stomachs churn. Plumes of smoke rose up from these areas like unsteady pillars. Our soldiers were burning the bodies of defeated Ork Warriors, before they could release their prolific spores.
Sparse clouds drifted above us like tattered garments. They would release the sunlight for a few minutes, and then snatch it away greedily until the next break arrived. At first the changing tone of the world around me seemed magical, but it soon became a nuisance.
I heard the crunching of determined feet clawing at gravel a few hundred meters down the road, so I stood to face the oncoming intruder.
I focused my eyes to see a sturdily built man wearing camouflage fatigues, with a lascarbine slung behind his back. It was one of my men, a man by the name of Corporal Gell Dansk. He was usually a pale fellow, but the run had brought new life to his face.
Once he reached me, he stopped and addressed me eagerly. “Lieutenant Cameron!”
“What is it, soldier?” I asked uninterested.
He responded, exasperated, “Excuse me, sir, but you just ain't gonna believe what’s just happened!”
“Get on with it Dansk!” I ordered impatiently.
“Well, I was in Sergeant Hallus’s squad, and we’d set up in ambush just down the road, waiting for the Orks to approach your position. When they finally arrived, there was a mob of about thirty, led by an especially big one with a bad temper. Emperors teeth, he was a tough’n. Never seen so much rage, even in a Nob! Sergeant Hallus must ’ave put a thousand las-bolts into that son-of-a-Grot, but it didn't do anything. The damn thing charged at him and swung its giant ax through the air, so he ducked and it slammed into our Communication specialist’s Comm-link. It cleaved that poor fragger in two! So Hallus, who’s really pissed at this point, hacks off the Ork’s arm with his Devil’s claw then runs it through the Damn thing’s Head! Emperor have mercy on anything dumb enough to get in the way of three feet of Catachan steel!”
“Is that really what you rushed all this way for?” I ask him, annoyed by the unnecessary distraction.
“Oh no, that’s just when the real shit happened, sir! You see, We’d had a particularly unsavory commissar attached to our squad, Emperor knows why!”
“Yes, I know all about Commisar Keorvey,” I tell him, to keep him from going on another tangent.
“Well, Sergeant Hallus decided he wanted a trophy from that big ass Ork, so he broke off a tusk and tied it around his neck. You can only guess what Keorvey thought of that!”
“Oh, shit,” is all I can think to say. The uncomfortable anticipation of where this story is leading begins to grow in the back of my mind.
“Yeah, shit is right. Keorvey told him to ‘have that unclean Xenos appendage burned with the rest of the Xenos bodies.’ Well, Sergeant Hallus didn’t like the idea of giving up his newest trophy one bit. That Ork was a giant fragger, and what son-of-a-Grox would want to give proof like that up?”
“I don’t have time for my men squabbling like a class of juves! Especially when their teacher is a damn Commisar! Don’t you boys know they’re given the authority to execute any plank that they deem insubordinate? Doesn’t matter what you do, just don’t piss off your damn Commisar!”
“That fragger was being ridiculous! He told Sergeant Hallus that he would be ‘punished to the fullest extent of his power if he did not have the Xenos appendage burned.’ But Sergeant Hallus told him that he was being a Grox’s arse, and refused to turn it over. So what does Commisar Keorvey do? He whips out that shiny little las-pistol of his and shoots Sergeant Hallus in the head! Frag us all, we were pissed. Especially Corporal Dale! Two men had to hold him back so that he didn't kill that fraking Commisar. ‘I’m gonna kill that bastard!’ is all he kept saying. He’ll do it too! You know Corporal Dale as well as I do. When he takes things personal, he won’t stop till he gets his revenge.”
I turned to my squad to make an announcement. “Alright, boys, load up in the Chimera.”
We all piled in quickly and sat down. I had half of my platoon down the road quarreling about killing a headstrong commissar, and desperately needed to have them under control. If more Orks came, we couldn’t allow them to find us so unprepared.
“Take us down the road,” I told the driver, and directed my attention to my Comm-link operator Corporal Bix. “Alert Squads One and Two of our relocation and tell them to sit tight. Then tell Squads three and Four that we are on our way”
The interior of our chimera shook as we rumbled down the gravel road. Large bumps and dips in the road sent jarring jolts through our bodies. I braced myself by grasping onto a metal handle above my seat.
“First and Second squads report no hostiles, sir. They are still set up in ambush at the other end of the road, as planned.” Corporal Bix reported.
“Good.”
Our transport screeched painfully as it came to a halt. The rear hatch opened and we piled out. I was shocked to find two of my men holding Commissar Keorvey against a tree.
“Never before have I seen such reckless abandonment of the Imperial Creed!” The Commissar protested.
“What is the meaning of this?!” I asked angrily.
“These men have betrayed the Emperor by disgracing one of his loyal servants,” the Commisar responded.
“I wasn’t talking about them. I was talking about you, Commisar Keorvey. You have sown the seeds of dissonance with an untimely and undeserved punishment. Tell me, Commisar, how does the execution of a dutiful Sergeant of the Emperor’s Imperial Army further the Emperor’s cause?”
“He sought to desecrate his body with a trophy that was Xenos in nature! How could I stand to let such insolence run rampant?! It is my duty to seek out unwillingness to obey the Emperor’s will and terminate it. Adorning oneself with Xenos artefacts and appendages shows contempt for the purity that is humanness, and as such it cannot be allowed.”
“You couldn’t have it more wrong, Commissar. It is a statement of contempt for our enemy’s very being! It is a way of telling them that we are the masters of their death. We are hunters and they are our prey. Those who oppose the Emperor are cleansed by our fire and vanquished by our steel. Their skulls are summarily affixed to our tanks and their tusks are hung around our necks to show how we detest their living state. This is the fate of not only the Xenos and the Heretic, but also the Traitor.”
I took a step closer and stared coldly into his eyes, “And you, Commisar, have betrayed the Imperium today.”
| 