Welcome to Gaia! ::

When he first joined the Imperial Guard, Vauran just like most new recruits. He was full of hope, his brown hair was short and clean, he followed every single regulation, and he was eager to serve the Emperor. Now, after seeing the many horrors of war, he has changed. His hope has faded, his brown hair has grown and was dirty and unkept, the regulations became pointless and he rarely found himself following them, and sometimes even his faith in the Emperor seems to fade. Of course he would never forget his duty to the glorious Imperium of Man, even he completely loses his belief in the Emperor one day he will continue to believe in the ideals that the Imperium represent. Now, him and his regiment have the chance to fight for the Imperium once again.

Vauran an the rest of the Courren 97th Rifles made their way into the debriefing and each of them took a seat. In front of them was a lone officer and a holo-pict of a red planet with small patches of blue and green scattered across its surface haphazardly. Once the whole regiment was seated the officer walked forward and started to talk.

‘In five days time you and five other regiments; the Valtier 507th Volunteers, the Valtier 497th Armored, the Yelfar 15th Veterans, the Kuu-Rin 48th Veterans, and the Harrew 3rd Shadows, will be making planetfall on Geven 5. You will land right outside of The Shullan Outpost which is located here in the middle Valltien Desert,’ the holo-pict spun around and the officer pointed towards a small pinprick of light that represented the outpost. ‘There you will meet up with the Geven 7th Armored, Geven 9th Armored, Geven 28th Artillery, along with several regiments of Geven militia that have been recently conscripted from the planet’s populous. We are not sure what you are to expect there because the mission objective has been classified, all we know that and Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos so there is a chance that there will be a Deathwatch Space Marine squad present during the operation… Of course that means that there is also an chance that none of you will live to see the end of the mission, if the Inquisition is involved it must be a serious threat.’

Vauran looked around the large room and all of his comrades had a look of fear and discomfort in their eyes. Any mission lead by an Inquisitor, let alone an alienhunter from the Ordo Xenos, is likely to be a suicide mission especially for a relatively small force of Imperial Guard and planetary militia.

‘You will given standard issue equipment and once you land on Geven each of you will be given Geven pattern uniforms so that you blend in well with the planet’s red deserts. Due to the nature of the mission you might also be given special or extra equipment once you land there in order to better complete the mission,’ he made a slight pause as he looked around at the regiment. ‘That is all, may you serve the Emperor well.'


After the briefing most of the Courren 97th Rifles returned to their barracks. It was a large simple room that was filled with rows of bunk beds that were 4 beds high. The barracks was split between three different regiments the Valtier 507th Volunteers, Valtier 497th Armored, and themselves. Vauran sat on his bunk surrounded by several of his friends and comrades who were all exchange various rumors they had heard about Geven V.

‘One of the pilots said the entire planets was infested by Orks and that we are going to lead an attack on the main Ork base,’ said a short scrawny man named Heelin.

‘Please Heelin, you are way to gullible. That pilot was just messing with you, why in the Emperor’s name would a member of the Ordo Xenos lead something as trivial as an attack on an Ork base? It is probably something more complex than that. Hell, there might not be any combat at all, we might just be there as a precaution,’ said Kultar. He used to be an educated man until he conscripted into the guard.

‘A precaution! Nine regiments of Imperial Guard plus planetary militia hardly counts as a precaution. Maybe two or three Deathwatch Marines count as a precaution. The s**t is definitely going to hit the fan and we are going to be caught in that shitstorm,’ said Vauran.

Suddenly another guardsman walked towards the group. He was a tall man with a completely shaved head and a long scar across his lower lip.

‘Where you been Jacob? Please tell me you weren’t trying to hit on that one girl in navigation again,’ said Vauran with a slight laugh.

‘First of all, Zal-Shien is just playing hard to get, I saw how she looked at me the other day. Second, I was just talking to Sergeant Valka,’ said Jacob, his accent was different then the rest because he was picked on the last planet they were to replenish their regiment.

‘Have you not learned the golden rule of interaction between the Imperial Navy and the Guard Jacob? They hate each other, always have and always will,’ said Heelin in a mocking voice.

‘I now what I saw guys and you will never change my mind. Anyway, Valka mentioned something about the deserts of Geven V. Apparently the sandstorms there carry some sort of virus or parasite that almost instantly eats any life form in its path.’

‘How in the hell do people live there then?’ asked Kultar.

‘The virus can only survive for long periods of time outside of the sand so when a sandstorm comes it stirs up the sand and brings the virus to the surface. Aperently they call the Bloodstorms or something like that.’

‘Well let’s just hope that it was only a rumor or this is going to be one hell of a deployment,’ replied Heelin.

‘I agree with that,’ Vauran sighed, ‘Our last deployment was bad enough with those twenty foot long man-eating slugs. Why can’t we ever land on a damn planet where all we have to worry about is the enemy?’

Before anyone else could respond a loud whistle filled the room indicating that it was now time to eat lunch and then report to the training halls for the daily drills.