Arrakian Accord Pt 3.

Segmentum Tempestus 999.M41

Harkonnen IV System; Planet Arrakia
Days on planet: 12

Situation: Critical



They were all gone. The Leman Russ Von Sica and its crew, as well as Major Carpenter, were all alone. At some point in the last few days the chain that held them in place within the convoy had snapped, and they unknowningly strayed far off course. From what they could scrape up navigation wise, they were about a hundred kilometres away from the target village. The tank's commander had long given up trying to raise anyone on the vox. It simply did not have the range to be trying to link back up with any kind of force. "Alright. We have a general Idea of where we're going. Take us out Sergeant." Before he could hear the sergeant's reply, Carpenter got back up into the cupola and surveyed the area with binoculars. Far off in the distance, he saw what looked like a few structures. The directional compass on the binoculars said east. "Sergeant, bearing one-oh-five. We have what looks like Imperial PreFab structures. adjust the course so that we pass by them at a close distance."

As they got closer, Carpenter could see there was much more than just the few structures. It was the ruins of an entire city, and there was still a battle raging from somewhere within the depths of the ruins. "Sergeant Yrmi, take us into the city. Slowly. Sponson gunners on alert here." The Von Sica crept down a ruined street, passing occasionally under the shadow of a ruined high-rise. As the street grew much narrower, buildings began to creep upwards into the sky. The echos of whatever battle was being raged became louder and disorienting. Suddenly, an Astartes with Jet black armour ran into the street in front of them. Before Carpenter could bring the tank's pintle mounted storm bolter to bear, the Space Marine was cut down by an unseen lasgun. Carpenter jumped down off the Von Sica and inspected the marine. Black Legion. "Who goes there?" The voice rang out of an alleyway nearby. He decided it would be wise to respond truthfully. "Major Aelgafar Carpenter. Vatarian XII Legion, Second Company!" There was a brief silence before a man in Dark Green flak and camoflauge fatigues stepped out of the shadows. "Guardsman Henri Chesaney. Arrakian 3rd Calvalry. Follow me, sir. I'll take you to my CO."

One street over, it was a hellscape. Wrecked vehicles were strewn about. Burnt out chimeras, half incinirated chaos predators, husks of leman russ tanks, anything an Imperial commander could bring to bear had it's place among the wreckage somewhere. Carpenter followed the Guardsmen up the street and was suprised to find the area opened up into what he highly suspected to have been a park at some point. Trenches had been dug and what was left of the 3rd was dug in around one central bunker. Being led through the trenches, carpenter truly saw the situation of the third. Men who had bled out while manning their rifle positions, empty ammunition boxes strewn about, shell cases coated the ground next to unexploded munitions. Aelgafar wondered how anyone could hold out in these conditions. Just beyond the trenches was an area filled with the dead of the Black Legion and Guard alike. In some places where the trench had collapesed, bodies were being used to hold up the walls and form a type of cover.

When he finally reached the centre bunker he was suprised to see the entrance was not a door, but a hole that had been blown open on one side. "Sir, go inside and down there stairs to operations. Colonel Marlow will want to see you." Having said that, the young trooper took off to return to his original position. Aelgafar reached onto his belt and pulled off a small radio. "Carpenter to Von Sica, Return to base. There is no way you can get through these buildings now that i'm on the other side." There was a slight pause before a reply was heard. "Yes Major. Also, good luck out there." Carpenter put his radio away and headed inside the bunker. He was being entirely ignored by the troopers manning the defences. Dedication, he thought. To what was the question. Survival? The Homeworld? Their Colonel? Who could tell. He took a moment to look over these men and what little peice of land they had paid in blood for. All out beyond the trenches was proof that the third hadn't just been sitting on the sidelines. The dead easily numbered in the thousands, and the occasional cry of pain hinted that there were survivors out in the sea of bodies who didn't have the good fortune to die, nor the luxury of being rescued. The men of the Third were grim. They wore tattered uniforms and battered armour. Their faces bore a stoic expression of men who highly suspected they were to die in that very moment. Then Aelgafar saw something that burned into his mind more than any great daemon of the warp ever could. He saw a soldier take off his helmet and step up out of the trench and was handed a strange case. He took the case and climbed up to a flat spot next to the central bunker. The case opened and the trooper took out a beaten and battered string viola. And then he began to play. Something about the scene burned into Aelgafar's mind. Surrounded by the worst kinds of death, surrounded by pain of unimaginable levels, This man was playing to mourne the dead. Carpenter rushed to get to the lower levels of the bunker, for he simply could not hold the sight in any longer.

"Colonel Marlow of the 3rd Calvalry?" The man who hunched over the operations table stood and turned toward a saluting Major Carpenter. He spoke in a raspy voice. "Yeah, that's me." He saluted back to put Carpenter at ease before continuing. "Who are you and what is your purpose here?" Carpenter adjusted his Beret and spoke. "Major Aelgafar Carpenter of the Vatarian XII Legion, 2nd company. I'm looking for a Field Marshall Peach, sir." Colonel Marlow simply stared at him as a response. He bore the same stoic face and spoke without hope. His uniform resembled that of his men's, and he looked unshaven for at least a week. "Well Major, the man you're looking for isn't here. We've been out of contact since the invasion." Carpenter cleared his throat. "Well sir, my company has been sending out vox signals since we landed to try an-" Marlow cut him short. "Major why do you think we've been out of contact with Peach? Our transmitter got blown to the warp in the first few hours of invasion. We only have short range vox. On top of that, whenever Baelstrom and his lot came through here in the first few days, he ordered all spare equipment to be loaded onto his chimeras and wheeled transports." "Baelstrom sir?" "Yeah. He runs the Capital City's PDF. From what I hear he let the Astartes get blown to hell while he and his men held at his field HQ." He looked back at his maps. "You know you can't stay here. In a couple of hours the Black Legion will attack again. They've managed to push us back to this position by doing that. Street by street, building by building, they pushed us back. We've run out of everything." Aelgafar took a step forward. "Sir, I hate to have to be asking this, but I'll need transport if this position is unable to be held until I can request for one. It is vital I get to the village of MaiLai." Marlow sighed and looked into his datapad. "Do you know why this is a Calvalry Regiment, Major?" Before Carpenter could reply, Marlow continued. "Up until about two thousand years ago, this unit was entirely mounted up on horses. We carried everything we needed for battle. We traded our hunting lances and horses for Chimeras and Multilasers. It may not look it now, but before all this began" he notioned around him at the bunker and trenches. "the entire regiment was able to be transported by our dedicated chimera force." he took a breathe. "We only have one Chimera remaining. Ony one. It can be found on the eastern defensive wall. I'll leave it up to you to decide to take it or not." He set down his datapad and began walking our of the bunker followed closely by Aelgafar. He stopped at the entrance of the bunker and took a long look at his men. "This will all be for nothing if can't stop the Black Legion. Major, I hope you find the Field Marshall, If anyone could stem this heretical tide, it's him. Emperor help us if he can't. You have a Chimera to requisition. I'll leave you to it." Marlow turned and went back into the depths of the bunker, leaving Aelgafar standing there speechless.

The only chimera avalible to the 3rd Calvalry was currently in use. What Colonel Marlow failed to mention was that it was being used to evacuate the wounded. Aelgafar stood in the hatch of the chimera staring inside at the wounded guardsmen who occupied the vehicle. Carpenter stopped the vehicle's commander as he was passing. "Sergeant, where is this chimera going?"
"Fort dix, sir."
"Where is that in relation to MaiLai?"
 "Opposite end of the region, sir."
 Aelgafar became quiet and the sergeant went back to inspecting the chimera before he was to make one last run to evacuate the wounded. From somewhere in the city, the war drums and war cries of the black Legion could be heard starting up. The Men of the Third began to hastily prepare their positions for the next wave of Traitor Marines that would undoubtly overrun their position. "Sergeant. Unload the wounded." The sergeant looked at him, as did all the wounded in the chimera. "Sir?!" Aelgafar cleared his throat. "You heard me Sergeant. Unload the wounded, and make ready to punch out of here." There was a pause before the sergeant began to help the wounded unload. Each wounded man stared at him with mixtures of hatred and silent pleas for reconsiderment. After they were unloaded and he got into the back of the chimera, he made eye contact with only one of them as the rear hatch was closed. He heard the Sergeant's voice over the intercom. "So, MaiLai then?" Carpenter pushed the talk button to reply. "Yes, MaiLai."
"Rodger that. MaiLai. It'll be about two days."
 "Alright, Sergeant."

From the diary of Major Carpenter: Note to self, Request that Segmentum Command recognize the 3rd Arrakian Calvalry as heroes of the Arrakian War. Emperor protect them all. Their leader, a Colonel Marlow, seemed to think that Field Marshall Peach is the Key to all this. I hope he's right. Not particularly in the mood to do this vox-recording stuff. Not after men who are much better than I gave their life so that I may complete my mission. Major Aelgafar Carpenter, Signing off for now.