TALES OF A LONE TROOPER - MY FIRST DROP
by John Houchins
By the time I had completed basic training I had lost twenty pounds and an infinite amount of attitude. I will not go in depth of my experiences during basic training, as unless you are a fellow soldier, it would be hard to relate. The Imperial Guard is such a large organization that there was little doubt that we would remain together after training. What we did not expect is that we would be the first company (that was all that was left of us) of a brand new regiment of Storm Troopers.

To some this may seem a good thing, but to us it was a low blow that we felt was unnecessary. You see each regiment in the Guard has a history that every member of that unit is proud to carry on. Just because the 20th Necromundan regiment is disbanded (for whatever reason) and is reorganized the new members will be briefed on the history and tradition of the past members as a way to helping them feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. We were not to have such an auspicious beginning. We had to forge ahead and create our own history and traditions. We were not thrilled, but as you may know Troopers do not have much say in such matters. We were not to let our superiors down.

We were assigned to the 20th Storm Trooper regiment, 7th Army Group under General Brigg. The Group was to move to an outback world known as "Kriven". Apparently some people took it upon themselves to declare the planet free of Imperial rule. As we all know this is not a good way to draw attention to your self. Upon arrival we were to give the poor saps a chance to return to the umbrella of Imperial protection, or be crushed under it's heel. General Brigg wanted to await the arrival of his Storm Troopers before deploying to the planet. Our company was the first to arrive of the newly formed regiment. We quickly set about the task of claiming our territory in the ships (booting a few companies of legs out of our way) and preparing the training areas. About this time our LT came around and advised the General had already prepared the initial assault plans and that our company was going to play a significant role in it.

"Gentlemen our company has been assigned to establish the beachhead from which the rest of the group will spread out to reclaim the planet for the Emperor. Our platoon is assigned to a cluster of targets North of the Capitol. The primary objective will be a launch pad located in grid 963D. Secondary objectives will be a supply depot and a bridge located in grids 962D and 964D respectively. At this time we do not have strength reports, but we do know that the rebels are armed mostly with pistols and un-powered melee weapons. General Brigg has decided not to wait for the rest of the regiment. They will meet us in orbit around Kriven some time after we have begun operations. Any questions? Good! The squad leaders have preliminary sketches of the objectives and grav-chute training begins promptly after lunch today. Dismissed!"

Well it was four standard weeks until we were scheduled to arrive. Each waking hour was spent in preparation for the drop; equipment maintenance, grav-chute training, and overall physical fitness. To say the least I was a tad nervous. I had never anticipated that I would actually do a grav-chute drop. We were told that this was to facilitate optimal surprise, as drop ships tend to draw fire from the defenders and with a grav-chute insertion can be silent and deceptive.

As we obtained standard orbit Company "C" (that was my company) was ordered to prepare for the assault. It turns out that only company's B and E had managed to connect with the army group, but this did affect our orders. We boarded the high drop ships and performed our final equipment inspections. Just then the LT arrived.

"You slugs look like a bunch of recruits! I sure hope these rebels are a bunch of pansies! I know one thing, I ain't gonna buy it on this rock on account of you. Be sharp! If I see you slugs retreating back under the rocks from which you crawled out from, I will kill you myself! Load up!"

There was nothing to do once on board. The NCOs and officers caught a quick nap, but the rest of us were green and had no idea what to expect. When the order was given to line up and jump my heart was in my throat, but once out the door I did not have time to think much about it. The grav-chutes we were issued were of military issue of course. We began the drop hurtling towards rock at maximum velocity. The anti-grav characteristics do not kick in until you are a mere 100 meters off the deck, and then it only gradually slows you down until you reach a safe speed. Or at least that is what is supposed to do. Tell that to the three lads that did not get off of the drop zone. From my perspective you could see the rebels were on heightened alert. All hard points were manned and appeared to be alert, and none of the mobile sentries were still. Still they did not seem to anticipate an attack from above. As I neared the deck I could tell we had achieved total surprise! The confusion caused by the three Troopers who hit the deck a little too hard worked to our advantage. A few of the sentries had left their posts to investigate. I signalled Jared to join me in taking out a heavy bolter position on the northern edge of the landing pad. We maneuvered over the position and waited until we were only 50 meters above them. Then we let loose with frag grenades and watched. Needless to say the position become unoccupied, and quick. About this time the rebels were aware of our method of attack and began returning fire. Fortunately most of us were almost down by this time. Jared and I immediately occupied the position formally used by the now deceased heavy bolter team. The rest of our squad was not readily seen from where we were so we elected to sit tight until we could determine what our next course of action should be. At this point the defenders could not seem to get their act together. They were unable to act in any form of cohesion to fight back. Jared and I took immediate advantage of this. Any time one of the rebels would stop on the landing pad we would pop him. Pretty soon there were 4 or 5 of them lying sprawled out on the pad. Then we heard the sergeant over the squad's comm circuit.

"Third squad, assemble at the command tower and secure."

Fortunately for us it was only 100 meters across the landing pad. Unfortunately it was also wide-open terrain. Jared opted to go first with me providing cover fire until he reached the first group of rebels we had hit. He hit the dead rebels in no time and hit the deck. Now it was my turn. With a quick roll to the right I hit full stride and aimed for the second group of bodies. Not two steps out I started to draw fire form the tower! Jared started to return fire to try and take the heat off of me, but to no avail. I was not about to slow down. The tower was out of range for the las gun any way. The heavy bolter's shells were tearing up the launch pad all around, but some how I got to the pile of rebels before the rounds struck home. I could feel the air around me pulse with the vibrations of the rounds violating the sound barrier around me. I immediately got on the comm circuit and reported to the sarge about the rebels in the tower. "I'll get back to you", was all he said! Meanwhile all Jared and I could do was to try and return fire with our las guns. We were getting close but the range was too far and what little we were doing seemed to have no effect. Before long I heard a sound that would soon become as familiar as my mother's voice. I high pitch scream that can only be associated to high speed freight carriers and in bound artillery. The first rounds were short and right. I was glad that I had not made it much farther cause now shrapnel filled the air around me, as well as the shots from the rebels. The sarge came across the link and asked, "how's that for support"! He must have adjusted the rounds because the next in bound shells was on target and the enemy's fire ceased.

Jared and I resumed our leap frogging to the base of what was left of the tower. Sarge and the rest of the squad were already in position.

"What took you boys so long! We have been ordered to hold until the rest of the platoon secured their objectives."

We managed to catch our breaths. The rebels must have bugged out cause the amount of firing in the area dropped off dramatically once the tower was down. Third squad had the heaviest casualties. We lost two on the drop and two taking the tower. All in all the LT was pleased. I can't remember, but I am pretty sure he never referred to us as "slugs" again.

As the LT began repositioning our platoon for defense of the launch pad we could see the thrusters of the drop ships that were to come and off load the rest of the 7th army group. You know the General never even acknowledged us when he got down!

I felt bad for the legs. The rebels began to dig in. They had decided to not let the planet go so easily and the 7th army group took heavy casualties from that day forward. Our regiment was held in reserve to work on the "strategic objectives" and perform reconnaissance. The most action we would see the rest of that campaign was at that launch pad. After that we were just individual squads divvied up among the line companies to be used as the Captains saw fit. Fortunately they did not even know we existed prior to that so held us back as reserves or bodyguards. That would change over time of course but at least we had a chance to get our feet wet and learn form our preliminary mistakes. Little did we know that the General was a quick learner...