Warhammer In the Shadow of The Mountain

In the Shadow of The Mountain

COMMISSAR CALEY CRAY waited impatiently for the Chimera to arrive. The perpetual drizzle she'd been forced to endure since her arrival on the Emperor-forsaken rock known as Pyrux IV had done nothing to improve her sour disposition and the time she had alone as she stood outside the command compound had left her with plenty of time to brood, which was never a good thing.

As a junior Commissar she had shown excellent judgment and a commanding presence that had made her one of the top graduates at the Schola. Her instructors had told her she was destined for great things and she, of course, believed them. Certain of her destiny and strong in her faith in the Emperor of Mandkind, she dove headfirst into her work as Commissar for the Endemus 138th Armored Fists Regiment and immediately began to flounder.

Her career as a Commissar had been marked by mistake after mistake. She had been forced to transfer out of the Endemus 138th after executing an officer for cowardice only to learn that he had been executing a feint and her actions had cost the regiment over a third of their fighting force. Her next assignment, with the Cadian 212th tank regiment ended after she inadvertently insulted Lord Commissar Gaius Tenebrous, the ranking Commissar of the Ophili Campaign. The following assignment had ended before it even began, as the Commissar she was supposed to replace returned from the wastes of Armageddon with the head of an Ork Warboss in a spike.

This was her last chance, a junior position in charge of an unruly platoon of the Kallian 3rd Siege Regiment. She had been requested specifically by Colonel Layton, the commanding officer of the regiment, who had apparently heard of her stellar record in the Schola, but never gotten any information about her subsequent career. The conversation they'd had when she first arrived planetside had been awkward. The Colonel was gracious, even after Caley had divulged her less than stellar record. "You'll have something in common with your men then, I suppose." Was all the gray haired Colonel had replied.

Caley had intended to go straight to the front where her platoon was located, but after a short vox communication with the platoon's lieutenant, she agreed to wait at the command compound for a transport to pick her up. The long wait alone with her thoughts was beginning to wear on the young Commissar, however, and she was contemplating shooting the driver of the Chimera as a show of her displeasure.

It wasn't too much longer before she heard the roar of the Chimera's powerful engine coming from a distance. The rain limited her vision but within minutes the roaring vehicle came to a halt in front of her. The rear hatch of the chimera opened, and two veteran guardsmen carrying powerful plasma guns stepped out. Their gray carapace armor was scarred and their fatigues and greatcoats were covered with black mud, but the glint of numerous medals and merits could be seen underneath the grime. The two soldiers made imposing figures, both over two meters in height with close cropped hair and grim, scarred faces. One of them leveled his plasma gun at Caley, while the other stepped aside to allow a third guardsman through. This one was significantly less imposing. He was dressed the same as the first two guardsmen, with gray carapace armor and tan fatigues underneath his dirt covered greatcoat, but he was a good head shorter than his men, standing eye level with Caley. He had a laspistol strapped to his belt and no other weapon. The only thing that tipped Caley off to the importance of this less than impressive figure was the cap he wore, which bore his lieutenant's bar. The short lieutenant approached Caley at a quick pace, extending his hand as he moved.

"Lieutenant Cyrus Asher, commander of the Kallian 3rd regiment's 8th platoon, and acting commander of the joint task force with the Kallian 1st artillery, northeastern theater. A real pleasure to meet you, Commissar Cray." Asher took Caley's hand in a tight grip and grinned broadly as he introduced himself. In spite of his pleasant introduction, the grip on her hand was vice-like, far more powerful than she'd expected from the small man.

"No, the pleasure is all mine." Caley grimaced as she pulled her hand away. "You look young for a commanding officer. I'm surprised that they'd give the command to someone who seems to be having so many problems that their platoon needs its own Commissar."

"Haha, yes. I suppose I am a bit young, this is my first campaign, but then again, the whole regiment is young. We've only been fighting for six months. Didn't the Colonel brief you on our situation?" Asher asked. He motioned for Caley to follow him back onto the Chimera

"No, I'm afraid the Colonel has been too busy in the war room to spend much time debriefing me." Caley said as she turned to follow. She had to walk quickly to keep up with the rapid pace of the lieutenant.

"My sincerest apologies for that. I'll have a full report delivered to you as soon as we arrive back at the front. I can give you a quick summary though on our way." Caley noticed that while Asher didn't look the part of a capable commanding officer, he definitely walked like one, his back was perfectly straight and his head held high. "The short of it is, when the Orks landed on Pyrux, their asteroid transport was split into multiple pieces, so the guard divided up its forces to destroy each pocket as quickly as possible." The two of them boarded the Chimera transport, Lieutenant Asher's bodyguards following close behind.

"A sound strategy." Caley commented. It was a bit unorthodox, but the huge mountains chains of Pyrux made mass mobilizations extremely difficult, so the breakup of forces was probably the most efficient way to deal with the issue.

"Yes, except that it's easy to miss some of the smaller pockets… until it's too late. That's what happened on the northeastern front. A very small force of orks had been harassing our troops since we arrived in this area, but we were unsure of their origin for a long time. It wasn't until the campaign began winding down that these particular greenskins became enough of a force to truly cause issue and now that we've had another resurgence in Ork population, we don't have the resources to take them out. It's an unfortunate state of affairs, but only two platoons stand between a massed army of slavering greenies and the entire collapse of this campaign."

"That's certainly a dire situation." Caley commented, although she felt like Asher may have been playing up his own importance to seem more impressive to her. "But how did you come to be in command?"

"During one of the first battles we took a major loss, including most of the command staff, when the Orks managed to fire off artillery that actually worked. The entire command bunker was destroyed, and I only survived because I was on the front lines. Funny how that works, isn't it?" The pressure hatch of the Chimera closed behind them, the driver put the large vehicle in gear and they began their drive back to the front lines.

"I take you you've handled the adjustment to command well?" Caley asked. She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying anymore though. She began to take a closer look at the man. He was very young, probably no more than twenty five standard years, and of course he was small, but he was good looking, with dark brown hair and fair skin. She couldn't help but think there was more to him, as if he was using the slightly oversized greatcoat to make himself appear smaller than he was. And the fact that he looked like he was trying to hide something made her want to mistrust him. "I'm sorry… what was that?" Caley said, having zoned out of the conversation.

"I said, this data slate has the latest figures on my platoon's battle statistics. I was wondering if you wanted to take a look at it?" Asher held out the data slate for the commissar.

"Yes, thank you very much." Caley scanned through the files on the data slate. The numbers were impressive. "These are amazing, Lieutenant. How did you manage to pull this off? Prior to your achieving command, you had the highest attrition rate and lowest kill rate in the entire regiment. But that turned around almost completely within your first month of command! I can't imagine why you'd even need a commissar." Caley almost smacked herself for that outburst, there was nothing worse for a career than admitting you weren't needed.

"You'll see once we arrive at the front. I'm sure you'll be suitably impressed with the work we've done here. And I don't think you'll have to worry about not having enough to do, the men and women under my command are in dire need of someone with some discipline to lead them, I'm afraid."

They had been driving peacefully along for about an hour when a sudden crackle from the driver's compartment indicated an incoming vox-message. "*_chkch* Leiutenant Asher, this is Corporal Sandra Brenner, the Orks have launched another attack! We're assuming defensive formations until you can get back here, but I'm not sure how long I can keep the men from breaking formation to engage.*chkch*"_

"Private Werner! I want us back there ten minutes ago!" Asher barked. Private Werner gunned the engine and the sudden acceleration threw Caley against the back of the chimera as the machine leapt forward, the roar of its machine spirit drowning out all other sound. The two bodyguards began to check over their equipment, cleaning their plasma guns and loading fresh battery packs. Lieutenant Asher pulled a power fist out of an equipment panel and began to strap the powerful combat weapon to his right arm. Caley followed suit and put a new clip of shells into her bolt pistol, then began cleaning the blade of her chainsword, anointing it with the proper sacred oils and saying her prayers of thanks to the machine spirits. It was an especially fine blade, one that had been gifted to her by her primary instructor in the Schola Progenum. The teeth of the blade were adamantium and the guard was electrum, shaped to look like a winged skull. It and the black lacquered scabbard it came with had been a special surprise for her from the former Lady Commissar Anya Beckett, who had personally used the sword in many famous battles. Caley considered it as much of a symbol of her office as the bolt pistol and peaked cap that she wore, and treated it with near reverence. She hoped that the machine spirit of chainsword would accord her at least some affection, although she wasn't sure that she was worthy of the blade.

"Listen closely." Lieutenant Asher began. "The Orks are mounting another assault today. When we arrive, head immediately to the front lines and make sure to support the infantry up front. Private Werner, I want you to provide relay support for the artillery strikes on the southwest flank, the walls there haven't had time to be repaired properly so make sure that those green skinned grox droppings don't get the chance to utilize the breach. I'll do my best to support where I'm able. Commissar, I'd appreciate it if you stuck with me for this battle so you can get a chance to observe how we work." Caley nodded in response, Asher handed her a combead and she placed it in her ear. She felt the rising tension in the pit of her stomach, the first sign of fear. She forced it down, a great Commissar was never afraid.

The Chimera roared into the battle only minutes later. The rear hatch opened wide and the two plasma gun wielding body guards rushed off into the fray. Lieutenant Asher and Commissar Cray followed shortly after. The sight before Caley made her gasp.

The chimera was parked on a ridge overlooking the battlefield below, where the Kallian guardsmen had built a massive, multi tiered fortress out of the mountain pass they had been ordered to defend. Great black stone walls blocked off the passes to either side of the mountain, their crenellated tops sported heavy bolter emplacements and hydra turrets that poured fiery death into the green skinned mobs below. The central mountain's face had been terraced to provide room for the artillery vehicles, with the lower terraces featuring lasgun and other heavy weapons emplacements. Guardsmen scurried about all over the place while Griffon Heavy Mortars and powerful Basilisks fired their siege weapons deep into the massed enemies. Mortars rained down on the Orks, slaughtering many of them before they could reach the infantry emplacements below, but they were far too numerous to be slowed by any long range defence.

"Welcome to The Mountain, Commissar." Lieutenant Asher said as he strapped a zip line to his carapace armor, Private Werner was following suit nearby, although he had the added weight of a vox unit strapped to his back. Caley took attached a strap harness around her own torso and once the three of them were hooked up, they made the leap off the ledge down towards the battle raging below. Artillery shells exploded around them, the air filling with smoke and ash, but Private Werner whooped and hollered the whole way down, and even Lieutenant Asher displayed a grim smile as the ground rushed up at them. The wind was blowing fiercely and Caley had to hold tight to her peaked cap for fear of losing it. The drop took them right into the middle of the fray, where the weakened wall by the southwest flank had broken into a close combat fight between the hulking greenskinned Orks and the desperate guardsmen. Caley had fought against Orks before, and she knew that once the Orks closed to melee they became almost impossible to defeat. She could see the guardsmen fighting fiercely for their lives, and she was proud. There was no fear there, the righteous fury of the Emperor had taken hold of the men and women, _her_ men and women as they surged back at the filthy xenos scum that dared to invade the holy lands of humanity.

Commissar Caley Cray charged in with a battle cry of her own, the name of the emperor on her lips and the chainsword purring hungrily in her right hand. She unloaded two bolter shells from her pistol, felling an Ork as it rushed to grapple her. She swung her chainsword across her body, slicing the arm of another as it lunged, firing its own crude weapon wildly. A second upward slice removed the things ugly head from its shoulders. She rushed on, swinging her blade left and right, finding Ork flesh wherever it moved. Her bolt pistol fired another four shells, and suddenly the area around her was cleared of living enemies. She loaded another clip into her pistol and looked around. To her far left, a guardsman stabbed the monomolecular blade of his bayonet into the chin of an Ork and fired the lasgun full auto into the beasts skull, frying its brain. Another guardsman with a melta gun blasted a mob of gretchin, vaporizing their small forms. All around her guardsmen were fighting close quarters with Orks and _winning_. She turned to look for Asher and caught her breath as a huge Ork, nearly twice the size of the others she'd faced bore down on her, a mighty power claw strapped to its arm. The beastly thing was covered in plates of rust pitted metal and ceramite, its green skin was so dark it was practically black, and its massive jutting tusks were very nearly the same yellow as its tiny, jaundiced eyes. She raised her bolt pistol and fired, but the shell failed to penetrate the thick armor of the monster. The massive Ork raised its power claw high as it rushed forward, ready to cleave the commissar in two. Caley swung her chainsword, hoping to block or divert the descending power claw. She nicked the armor of the mighty weapon, but the grinding force of her chainsword on the thick ceramite sent the blade spinning from her hand. Caley knew her time had come as she watched the thick blades of the power claw descend.

The blinding flash of a lasbeam cut into Caley's field of vision, followed closely by a massive power fist. The fist impacted on the Ork's face, the sparking power field pulverizing bone and flesh until it was only a greenish brown smear. The massive body of the Ork continued to charge forward right past Caley, only to fall to the dirt a few seconds later. A stunned Caley looked up at her rescuer, seeing Lieutenant Asher standing over her, his hand extended.

Caley brushed the hand aside and got up. "I'm fine, Lieutenant. Where is my chainsword?"

"Over there." Cyrus pointed with his laspistol. The blade had buried itself in the back of another Ork, which had fallen on top of a guardsman who was struggling to throw the body off. Caley worked the chainsword free of the Ork's body, then rolled it over to free the trapped guardsman, who rose up immediately and saluted.

"Thankee kindly Ma'am." The guardsman said as he saluted. He was older than either Caley or Lieutenant Asher, and in obvious defiance of the Imperial Guardsman's Handbook, he was sporting a full beard of jet black hair. He was oversized in every possible way, standing over two meters in height, with arms like tree trunks and a barrel chest.

"What's your name, guardsman?" Caley asked.

"Sergeant Lawrence Ferrell, Ma'am. I 'pologize fer my appearance. Got a medical dispensation here somewheres." Sergeant Ferrell began patting various pockets, in an effort to appear legitimate.

"Ferrell, were you the one who led the charge through the breach?" Lieutenant Asher asked.

"Aye Sir!" Ferrell grinned. "An' it worked dinnit? Ya can't say we're bein' overrun by Orks now can ya?" Looking around, Caley had to agree with that statement. All but a couple of the Orks were dead, and the gretchin were running as quickly as their stubby legs could take them, while guardsmen picked them off at a distance, laughing and joking as they did so.

"I can agree with that, Sergeant." Lieutenant Asher began. "Except that you did it in direct violation of my standing orders to maintain defensive positions. Commissar, this is exactly the kind of thing I was telling you about." Asher turned to Caley as he addressed her.

"Sir, ya can't be serious? Me men an' I went above and beyond the call of duty to protect yer lil fortress is all." Sergeant Ferrell looked imploringly at Caley. "Ya must agree with me, Commissar. Where's it say that valor oughta be punished?"

Caley took a moment to think. She could easily execute the sergeant for dereliction of duty, among other things, but it was important to her that she not be overly harsh with the men, after all, wasn't that how she'd gotten here in the first place? Caley decided to fall back on a trick her mentor had taught her, force the soldier to choose his own punishment.

"I can't fault you and your men for your valor, Sergeant. However, it is of paramount importance that a soldier follows the orders of his superior officer as if they were the words of The Emperor himself. So what would you have me do?"

"I dunno. I'm no Commissar, Ma'am." Sergeant Ferrell replied. Well, there went that plan. The guardsmen were in the middle of cleaning up from the battle now, so Caley decided to use that as an opportunity to avoid making a decision right away.

"For now just help your men clean up from the fight. I'll conduct an investigation and determine my findings within the week. Consider yourself under house arrest until then." Caley said. She would make a note to have a couple MPs assigned to watch Sergeant Ferrell. As a way to separate Lieutenant Asher and Sergeant Ferrell, she offered the Lieutenant her arm and led him away.

"Can you truly afford to lose an obviously capable NCO, lieutenant? I can't imagine that you'll be finding too many more of those in the foreseeable future." Caley asked Lieutenant Asher once they were a suitable distance away.

"I guess not, Commissar. Although I sincerely wish I could. Sergeant Ferrell takes far too many risks for my taste. He deliberately disregards my orders in order to fulfill his own desire to close with the enemy. His tactics could easily be the undoing of my entire plan." Asher sighed. "The men call him 'Mad Larry' they say he's blessed by The Emperor, and I'm starting to believe them more and more. No matter where I put him on the battlefield, he finds a way to get up close and personal with the Orks, and he wins!"

"As long as he's winning, what does it matter?" Caley asked.

"Because one day he will lose. And that day will destroy everything I have built here. From the moment I arrived, I knew that we would not be able to remove these Orks with a standard advance, so I convinced my commanding officer to begin construction of this fortress. Those first months were the worst I've ever faced. We were constantly attacked, our defenses breached by Ork commandos, gretchin snipers and almost anything your could think of. I had to fight daily to maintain our strategy, and it's finally settled. We can hold out here for years if we have to. Meanwhile, the rest of the regiments can sweep the Orks off the face of Pyrux without fear of their command and supply lines being overrun." Lieutenant Asher seemed drained after the fight, his shoulders were slumped and he dragged his feet as they walked. "If this fortress falls, the whole campaign is over. And Sergeant Ferrell's activities are infectious. The more victories he scores, the more my men and women emulate him. You saw them today, they don't fight like the guard, they fight more like Orks." Asher was right. No guardsman in their right mind would take on an Ork at close combat when he could kill him at a distance from the comfort and safety of a foxhole. But Caley had seen just that today. The Guardsmen of the Kallian 3rd fought up close and personal with the Orks, she had seen commanders leading full charges against mobs of Orks and actually _winning_. The thought scared her.

"I'll find a way to deal with the problem, Lieutenant Asher, don't worry." Caley responded.

"Thank you, Commissar. I appreciate your help." Lieutenant Asher replied heavily. "Let me take you to your quarters." Lieutenant Asher led Caley back up The Mountain, towards the barracks at the top of the great fortress.

That night, as Commissar Caley Cray looked over the files about the Pyrux campaign that had been delivered to her, she was struck with an idea. If Sergeant Ferrell's actions were a problem, then why not use his recklessness to her advantage. Let him lead an attack against the Ork compound. If he was successful, then the war would be that much shorter. If not, then Asher's problem would disappear. Confident in her decision for the first time in a great while, Caley let down her red hair and lay down for some much needed rest.


End file.
