"All of the worlds of the Imperium shall look to their own defense. They shall also look to the defense of the Imperium, and the prosecution of such wars as the Emperor in His wisdom shall decree. Therefore, each populated planet shall raise and maintain its own planetary defense force, and from the ranks of this defense force, it shall provide the best of its troops for recruitment into the Imperial Guard, according to such requirements as shall be imposed by the Administratum."
- Message from the Adeptus Administratum
My name is Cayden Ludwik, I have had this journal for quite some time now, I believe I found it in the ruins of an old shop but I can't say for sure. I am a citizen of the hive world of Acheron IV and like all other citizens of a hive city. I work in the manufactorum, making Flak armor and Autoguns for the local PDF Force, sometimes even Lasguns for the Acheron Regiments, I live in a simple apartment, earn a minimum wage and try to get a meal or two for myself, if I have the Thorns and time of course. Even though life is very, very hard, I do my best and know that the God-Emperor has graciously granted me the opportunity of a simple life and not being damned to a place like the underhive, by the Emperor, did I hear so many stories about that place, and also the knowledge of reading and writing, which is why I have this journal but I hadn't written anything in it. Until now.
I remember waking up to the sound of someone banging on my door, it was like an explosion right in front of my face, if I can recall it was about an hour away until my shift started and quite frankly I was highly irritated by the fact that someone was taking away seconds of the most precious commodity of a hive city, sleep. I stood up, walked to my door, opened it, and there he was. He wore a long black trench coat, black colored Falk armor with a white-colored, I think "chevrons?" that's what you call it, on the right pauldron, and his face was like one who had fought and survived 100 battles. "Are you Cayden Ludwik?" that was the first thing he said to me and by the Emperor's name his voice was exactly how he looked, I said yes and then he gave me a piece of paper and said "You have been conscripted to the Acheron Imperial Guard Regiments. Congratulations you now have the honor of serving in the Emperor's grand Astra Militarum, please report to Fort Graythorn, tomorrow, at 0600." and he walked away.
The Imperial Guard. I heard that if you joined the Guard you would get good food and better pay, I believe around 50 thorns a mouth better then my 10. To be honest, I've thought of joining the Guard more times than I can count, I mean for Emperor's sake I work in a manufactorum producing Flak Armor and Lasguns. it's just, I don't want to risk my life out in the Galaxy. All the stories I heard as a child about the Dark Eldar, Orks, and Choas, it's just terrifying. But sadly, it looks to be that I must face my fears sooner than I expected. I read the paper the Guardsman gave me and it said the usual "It is your duty to hear the call of service!" and "It is a great honor to serve the God-Emperor of Mankind!" but when I read where this "Fort Graythorn" was, it stated, "Fort Graythorn, and other forts like it, is station in the lowest level of Hive City 17, most commonly known as the underhive, the reasoning for this is to create more resilience soldiers in the face of real combat than the average guardsman." I pray to the Emperor that he protects me.
As I'm writing this I can say, without a doubt, I am afraid and hope the God-Emperor blesses me the strength and the will to face the enemies of the Imperium, Ave Imperator.
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I Die Standing
Fanfiction"To each of us falls a task. And all the emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand the line and we die fighting. It is what we do best. We die standing." - General Sturnn, 412th Cadian Shock Trooper Regiment. Cayden Ludwik was once...
