MILITARUM WARZONE MISSIVE ALPHA-THREE
TO: Astra Militarum (Moebian) Command Staff
FROM: Dukane, D. Commissar
++via astro-node y-kappa-331-sigma++
My honoured lords militant. Sad to relate, our initial forays have been gruelling. The Steelheads have made some inroads, and their loyalty has not wavered, but the sheer scale of the hive is punishing, and the traitors use the fabric of this great structure against us. The 6th, I am sorry to report, fights with the same skill and brilliance that made it a watch-word for Militarum precision, despite the ghastly corruption that has gnawed at it. These are not wild traitors, my lords, they are traitor-soldiers.
As I wrestle with the traitor foe, I am forced to wonder how such obscenity could foment. It appears, confoundingly (and in this, Rannick supports me) that the Traitorous 6th believe themselves to be fighting for their own world and its liberty. Though they appear to my eyes to be monsters, they see themselves as liberators, as freedom fighters seeking the deliverance of their people. It is distressingly wrong-headed. The 6th, fuelled by the lies of the Admonition cult and, in part, supported by the dregs of hive society, do not believe themselves as invaders or defilers at all. They believe they have right on their side, and that the Imperium and (dare I write the words?) our beloved God-Emperor, are the evil parties in this war.
I speculate that the 6th have been kept too close to home. The rulers of Tertium saw fit to deploy them to their own Fringe Worlds, which have been a hotbed of petty war for centuries. They have not been founded and sent further abroad across the Domain or the wider Imperium beyond as regulations describe.
In this, I declare, a fundamental principle of the Astra Militarum has been broken. Worlds raise men to fight in distant wars, not in their own backyards, thus where and when the Imperial Guard fights is merely a matter of location. A guardsman may fight upon a world with valour and clarity for he has no particular association or sentiment for that place. This distancing allows him to fix his focus - and his loyalty - on the light of the Throne, above all, and the standard of the Imperium.
By fighting close to home, and allowing troops to return to their own world for resupply between tours, the 6th have bred a familiarity akin to nostalgia. They fight for Atoma, and their own people, against the benevolent mastery of the Imperium, rather than the greater and grander good of the Imperium as a whole. This has allowed for the development of a dangerously inward-looking aberration, a local introspection, that dwells upon small details and grievances rather than the wider scope of Imperial virtue, and thus gnaws away at discipline and loyalty like acid or some wasting disease. It is a condemnable affliction of attitude.
I am pleased, of course, to remind my lords that the Steelheads are in no such wise affected, given that they were founded on proud Branx and now fight on soil, and in streets, that carry no familiarity or attachment for them. So too myself, born and raised on Thracian Primaris so far away, have no personal connection to this location. Indeed, even the Inquisitorial warband, for all its faults, was in the majority bred in diverse other parts, and comes to this war without preconception. Where the 6th has fallen into a miserable trap of its own affections, we can remain clear-sighted to get the job done. Our sentiment, fierce and strong, lies with the Imperium and our sworn devotion. Around that flag, we are able to rally without fault or favour. Atoma means nothing to us except as a mark of honour.
But that honour will be hard-won, and bloodily achieved. I implore you, my lords, send me the regiments I need to free our great Domain from this infamy. The Emperor protects, the Guard prevails.
[affirmed by my sigil] - Dukane.
MILITARUM WARZONE MISSIVE ALPHA-FOUR
TO: Astra Militarum (Moebian) Command Staff
FROM: Dukane, D. Commissar
++via astro-node z-rho-773-gamma++
My honoured lords militant. The war for Atoma continues. Though its cost remains high, be assured that the 53rd are resolved to restore the God-Emperor’s light to this benighted world.
I must inform you that Intelligence has revealed that the Traitorous 6th are supplemented by some miserable internal force, deemed to be a heretical cult, that has arisen within the hive. The existence and operation of this cult, known as the Admonition, offers proof of my suspicions that corruption has been allowed to brew in Tertium for some considerable age. The ruling powers including, I am sure, the Lord Margrave himself, our Lord Moebian, have allowed this delinquency to fester, either through weakness or indolent ignorance. Such are the vile teachings and preachings of these heretics, it seems to me no wonder that battle-weary troops, such as the 6th, having been worn down by thankless tours on the Fringe Worlds, are rendered helpless and susceptible to toxic ideas.
I implore you, my lords, we require further Astra Militarum assets here. The Guard can contain this blasphemy, but we need reinforcement. Further regimental portions, from Inchron and Branx Magna perhaps, must be dispatched with haste, by your good graces.
Regardless, we will press on, our courage undiminished, and seek to make gains in conjunction with the warband rabble. Though their overall aspect remains unimpressive, there are those among them who show promise. Atoma will need many more of their ilk before victory is ours.
[affirmed by my sigil] - Dukane.
