Greetings, Guardsmen!

Following the arrival of the so-called “Warmaster of Chaos” in his misguided attempt to wrest control of Vigilus from its glorious defenders, we can present to you a story recounting the magnificent deeds of a single Guardsman. With such heroes from even the rank-and-file willing and able to lay down their lives in such a manner, how could the Black Legion possibly hope to defeat us?*

Guardsman Jones was tasked with defending the Mortwald Hivesprawl’s Deinos Trench Network alongside the rest of his 118th ‘Opal Raptors’ regiment of Ventrillian Nobles and a force of Space Marines led by the Imperial Fists. During repeated waves of Ork attacks, Jones accumulated an astonishing tally of 117 confirmed bayonet kills.**

Such was the stoic determination to repel any assault shown by Guardsman Jones that when heretic forces later began their own attack on Mortwald, they resorted to desperate tactics to avoid facing him in open battle. Repeated bombardment by besieging Iron Warriors forces only inflicted light casualties upon the Deinos Network’s glorious defenders.***

When a Black Legion strike force descended upon Mortwald, they too steered clear of Guardsman Jones’ effective range, being sure to drop a number of miles behind the Deinos Trench Network. Yet Guardsman Jones had predicted the clumsy tactics of the enemy, having already gathered the survivors of his regiment and led them back from the front lines in order to launch a preemptive attack on the Traitors as they arrived.****

By the time additional forces had arrived to reinforce the ingenious attack of the Opal Raptors, Guardsman Jones lay dead. As befits the death of such a noble hero of the Astra Militarum, Jones had fallen in combat with the enemy’s leader, Thorosgar Bear-fist. Reports claim that the Chaos Lord was all but overwhelmed by the ferocity of Jones’ repeated bayonet strikes and only triumphed in their duel when the steel of Jones’ battle-worn blade – not the steel in his heart – finally gave way. Even now, it remains lodged in the gorget of the traitor’s Terminator armour.

Alas that our Guardsman of the Week is, for the 14,547th consecutive time, awarded posthumously, but we expect nothing less from the plucky heroes of the Astra Militarum!

+++ Thought for the Day: True happiness stems only from duty. +++

* Rumours of catastrophic death counts and many of the Vigilite hivesprawls burning or having been completely overrun are enemy propaganda, and little more than a childish attempt to hamper morale.

** Unsubstantiated claims that these bodies already bore signs of explosive trauma synonymous with the impact of boltgun rounds, and that Guardsman Jones merely ‘finished them off’ are scurrilous lies. Those caught spreading such falsehoods will be flogged for their insolence.

*** Initial estimations of the regiment suffering an 80-90% casualty rate – though within acceptable parameters – have proven wildly inaccurate. Many Guardsman only lost a limb or two during the shelling – minor injuries that would hardly classify them as casualties.

**** The seemingly haphazard nature of this tactical redeployment, and the voxed screams of ‘Retreat!’ and ‘Flee for your lives!’, were all part of Jones’ carefully orchestrated plan to lure the enemy into thinking the Imperial lines had broken.

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