Thus Did The Imperium of Mankind Fight There

Part 21 I Need a Break

Battle-Brother Sergius of the Eighth Legion, Third Formation was unremarkable by the standards of the Night Lords. 

He was the son of a prostitute who became pregnant by a gang member who, of course, did not provide any support for his child. Knowing she could not provide for her son; his mother gave him to one of the roaming recruitment parties that searched the remaining under-hives for potential Astartes aspirants. 

He never knew the name of his mother. 

After he passed the gene-seed compatibility tests, he was given to the legion of Konrad Curze and managed to survive the traditional trials to become a neophyte of the Night Lords. Next, he operated under the Legion's Tenth Formation as a scout before being given the full suite of twenty-four augmentic organs. 

Until recently, he'd been deployed to some of Terra's last remaining under-hives to root out the final vestiges of Old Night upon the Throneworld where he would have likely stayed had it not been for the appearance of that damned Gate.

When the Sigillite ordered the Chapter of Night Lords on Terra to provide a squad of Assault Marines to the provisional company of Space Marines that would be sent as part of the newly formed Expeditionary Army Cataegis, the Chapter Master commanded that each member of the Chapter inscribe his name on a bone of a slain opponent, to be used to randomly select the ten legionaries who would have the dubious honor of being separated from the Legion on an indefinite basis until the compliance campaign for the planet on the other side was complete. 

Either by 'luck' or some sick joke made by the Changer of Ways, his name was one of the unfortunate picked out of a thousand to be sent to fight on some backwater. 

Now the unremarkable Night Lord Sergius found himself in the remarkable situation of being conversed with and admired by an abhuman Elf girl, stared at with amazement by a young psyker, and gawked at by a crowd of feudal worlders. 

Fate truly had a terrible sense of humor, he inwardly grumbled.

Despite the ludicrous circumstances Sergius found himself in, he had to ensure that the innocent were protected as decreed by his gene-father and the Emperor. Normally, untrained psykers wouldn't have been included in those he protected. Still, the Primarch Arik Taranis had ordered that any local psykers would not be treated with any open hostility due to the strangely calm nature of the warp on this planet and the protective immaterial shroud surrounding it.

Stepping towards the little female psyker he'd just saved, he asked, "Are you alright?" 

The girl blinked rapidly for a moment before responding in a surprisingly monotone and calm voice.

"Yes, thank you for saving me." 

With the psyker safe, he turned his attention to the injured child and then to the auxiliary. 

"Auxiliary, what is the condition of your charge?" 

The auxiliary was stunned for a second at being spoken to directly by a Space Marine but managed to respond. 

"Her injuries can be treated, but I'm afraid she won't be able to travel in her current state." 

"Load her into the Chimera then, inform the Lieutenant that this is my decision should she protest," he instructed

Sergius left when he was finished and continued to observe the locals as they prepared to leave, all of them giving him a wide berth and many discreetly staring at him. 

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The rest of the force helped the villagers load their belongings while the remembrancer sketched the sights of Coda village. At the same time, Minerva and Sergeant Felix were once again conversing with one another. 

"Lieutenant, are you sure about this, we've already got command breathing down our necks, Emperor only knows what will happen to us when we get back after another stunt." 

Minerva sighed, she understood her subordinate's concerns, but she couldn't bring herself to just leave all these people to fend for themselves. 

"I get it Felix, we're going to be in a load of hot water when we get back, but that was already the case when we went against orders to warn these people so we might as well help them now." 

As Minerva ended her explanation, Private Grace came carrying a kid in her arms. 

"Ma'am, this girl has a concussion and possibly bruised ribs, she can't travel with the rest of the caravan, one of the Night Lords told me to put her in the Chimera," Emily hurriedly explained. Minerva squinted at the girl, seeing her closed eyes and hearing her faint breathing, she nodded. 

"Alright, get her in and give her the medical attention she needs." 

With a "Yes Ma'am," Private Grace rushed into the transport with the child. Sergeant Felix wore a pensive expression as she watched the young local being placed into the vehicle. Noticing this, Minerva questioned, "Something wrong?"

Sergeant Felix curtly replied, "Just thinking that we've been breaking a whole lot of regulations, Ma'am." 

Minerva shrugged and answered, "You want to go say no to an eight-foot-tall terror machine, be my guest, besides, since when have we Cthonians ever cared about rules?"

Minerva chuckled at the second half of her jest. 

Then Private Quinden approached and saluted before reporting, "Ma'am, the Mayor says the caravan's ready to move out." 

Nodding, Minerva ordered, "Then let's move out."

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Two Hours Later

The caravan had been traveling slowly, so slowly in fact that the Dracosan and Testudo of Solar Auxilia and abhumans managed to catch up after following Minerva's orders to avoid entering the base.

Many members of the Reconnaissance Detachment had taken to walking along with the caravan, partly to guard it and partly to make room in the transports that were now being used to move the injured and the elderly. 

So far, the journey had been uneventful, and as the age-old adage states, once there was no piss fear-inducing combat action to survive, the primary enemy of a soldier was boredom. Minerva herself was stifling a yawn when Corporal Helvetii, who was on lookout duty, reported, "Uh, Lieutenant, you might want to see this." 

Corporal Helvetii passed the magnoculars to her and she looked through them to see one of the most confusing sights she'd laid eyes on if you were to ignore the rest of the nonsense the detachment had witnessed since leaving the sanity of Imperial (Imperium) controlled territory.

"What in the frakking Emperor's name is that?"

Minerva muttered as she saw what could only be described as a juvey girl holding a halberd she had no right to lift considering her petite frame and wearing an outfit that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Slaaneshi cult, sitting on the road in front of the convoy. 

"I seriously need a break after all this." 

Minerva gave voice not just her own feelings, but those of every member of Reconnaissance Detachment-3. 

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