I Died In Hell; They Called It Vipers

By Richard Walter

18 Years after the Horus Hershey finally ended; news reached the Imperium of a splinter group of rebel Chaos Imperial Guardsmen travelling towards Itanius, a large Imperial garrison of great importance to the Imperium. The number of the Chaos force was immense, and they had already destroyed 32 planets on their way. They had to be stopped, no matter what the cost. Major's Urrdaius and Townsend of the Cadian and Britanius Imperial Guard respectfully, were ordered to halt their advance at Patanga. This planet, Patanga was the only planet standing between the Chaos and Itanius. On the morning of April the 24, The Cadian 32nd and Britanius 1st Airborne Battalion reached the city of Vipers via para-drop. Setting up defensive positions around the North, East and West of the city they were later joined by the Cadian 16th and Britanius 20th Divisions. Over the coming weeks the number of battalions increased to swell the numbers of the garrison. The Britanius Heavy Ordnance and Super Heavy Weapons Battery holed up either side of the town on the few hills that littered the flat and open ground. 5 Miles North of Patanga the 149th Britanius took control of the small city Addans, set up a powerful radio, and advanced communications post. To the East of Addans, the Britanius 13th, 92nd and Cadian 8th dug long trench's and set up traps to halt the Chaos advance. To the East of Vipers itself, the Britanius 12th Mobilised Infantry division worked on their damaged vehicles. The total men in Vipers and the surrounding area reached over 500,000 and their number would be increased with reinforcements from the 292nd Cadian Tanks corps, 55th Super Heavy Weapons and Mechanised Defence battalions coming to Vipers from the South. Also, on standby was the Britanius Elite Force, 4th Battalion Cadian Airborne, 2nd and 3rd Britanius Airborne brigades and the 34th, 66th and 82nd Cadian Infantry Battalions. Other units were on standby from the planet of Madrian but they were not to be used unless very huge losses were incurred. On May 16, the first Chaos soldiers were spotted by the Britanius Recon force attached to the 13th. Here is the story of these brave warriors of the Imperium. Captain Standies of the 13th Britanius battalion received the message that would change to whole of the Imperium forever.

 

"HQ, HQ; This is Recon Force Alpha. Chaos force spotted approx. 2 miles form our position. Over."

"Recon Force Charlie; Word received and understood. Request number of force. Over."

"Copy that. Number approx. 600, lightly armed. Possible scout force. Over."

"Understood. Good work men, now get back to us. Praise the Emperor."

"Immediately Sir. Over and out."

As soon as the radio died down, there was a tremendous explosion from the North of the Imperial Position. The radio hastily crackled back into life.

"CODE ALPHA! CODE ALPHA! WE HAVE BEEN SPOTTED. MORTAR BOMBARDMENT! WE ARE LYING DELTA IN THE OPEN!"

"THAT’S NO F*CKIN' RECON FORCE!" Standies roared to his command unit. Turning to face his men, he roared the order.

"We've got to stop them before they reach our positions!"

The soldiers of the 13th Battalion all nodded excitedly as they checked their weapons. Muttering a prayer to the Emperor he picked up the radio, and relayed the information back to Townsend.

"Sir, 13th Recon Force has experienced casualties. Permission to rescue them."

"Granted. May the Emperor spare you and your men."

Almost at once, the heavy weaponry form the Britanius Heavy Ordnance rained down towards the charging Chaos. The air roared with explosions and the bass rumbles as the shells were fired.

"13th Battalion - CHARGE!"

As a man, the 5000 soldiers leapt from the trenches and ran in their formations to reach the Chaos. Many men fell to the Mortar shots from the Chaos force. However, fury and eagerness of reaching the Chaos to dish out some retribution kept the Guardsmen from retreating.

"Stand to! Stand to!" Standies roared to his men. They needed no encouragement to stand firm.

The first of the 13th Battalion fell to the floor as they became in range of the Chaos. Almost instantly, the air whined as Lasgun fire poured into the static Chaos Guardsmen.

The ground was flat and offered no cover to both sides. However, the 13th cared not. Their fury outweighed any sense of safety. Grim determination stopped them from backing down.

Standies leapt to the ground, he raised his field-glasses to his eyes and spotted the Recon force. They were lying down a 100 meters away and appeared to be firing back at the Chaos. Although they had lost many men.

"Charlie, Delta, Slaytanius and Primus Fire-Teams engage the enemy. Beta Fire-Team RV with Recon force and bring them home." Roared the commander to his men.

The four assault battalions got to their feet and charged forth. Covered by their fellow guardsmen they lost little men. The Beta team ran as fast as they could. The Chaos army directed most of their fire on them as they were running a long distance out in the open.

Sergeant Garius' section (Slaytanius Team - S Company) came sweeping across the left of the Chaos flank and was engaged by a Chaos assault team. In the space of a few seconds, fully over half of S Company was wounded, either by the Chaos or by the Britanius Heavy Weapons still raining down on the area.

Commissar Murtha was at the head of the charge when he went down. A yell followed by "I'm hit! I'm hit!" and moans of pain echoed across the battlefield.

Medic Lerokzis of Delta Team radioed Standiez who gave a reply. Lerokzis could both see and hear the Commissar, who had been shot in the head. There was no possibility of the Medic reaching Murtha because of the ferocity of the fire. Lerokzis could not see where the remainder of S Company was, although he saw Standiez - who had also been wounded.

Standiez cursed. It seemed as if S Company had been almost wiped out. His main priority was to reach the wounded guardsmen.

Lerokzis cursed to himself. He could hear Murtha moaning and talking to himself. He decided he had to act soon. The main problem Lerokzis faced was that the moment any guardsmen raised his head long enough to see the Commissar, he was shot at himself.

Lerokzis could bear the agonising screams no longer. Private Stew joined him and they both agreed to try to rush forward. Just as Lerokzis got to his feet he heard a cry, "I'll cover you Stew!" and then Stew was off. Shots rang out, together with a pain filled curse and a sharp intake of breath - Stew had been shot four times in the chest.

As S Companies situation worsened, D Companies was no better.

Lerokzis roared to his platoon.

"F*CK THE CHAOS!" Then he charged towards the Commissar. A hail of bullets erupted at the medic as he ran the distance. All the time the Medic wondered why he was not dead. Explosions rumbled to the front and side of him, yet still he ran on.

A mortar shell detonated behind the Medic as catapulted him through the air. Lerokzis came crashing down and landed with a thud. Raising his head, expecting to have no legs, he found that he was unharmed. Crawling the rest of the distance, he reached the Commissar.

Murtha had been shot in the head: He survived long enough to attempt to treat his own injures - he was found by Lerokzis with a field-bandage unravelled. Stew died in the process of saving his friend.


For those wondering, this story was concocted on my recent village to Holland and Belgium. I visted the Commonwealth cemetries (Arnem, Ypres and Passendale) and discovered members of family fought and died there. The two Walters at Passendale and Ypres never had their bodies recovered. Sergeant Walter who died in Ypres had his name etched on the Menin gate. In a small way I feel a loss, eventhough I never knew them. However, I will ensure their names live on and should any body wish to attach this story to their web-site, Please include this message. I have a deep respect for the Commonwealth and Allied forces who fought and died in the two great wars. May the Emperor, and the Lord, bless them with eternal life. Amen.

Yes. I DO have feelings you know! :-)

Sniper. Out.

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