THE DEPARTUE

[Johannes Wyss von Krieg]

THE DEPARTURE

It was unexpected. And yet Hidden.

In the Tower of the Administratum, in the Ordinate's central office, there was a great table of assignments,
each patrol, Kitchen or latrine duty was needed to be done by one guardsman or another and so each
was assigned according to a relatively just system where the Grunts do all the Dirty Work.
Here in 0400 Troops from a Penal Legion cleared the Trenches, here in 0430 the Cadians shelled the Trenches for Training,
Here in 1200 the Ratling Abhumans attended Kitchen and so forth and so forth. Each Regiment was represented,
and each did those assignments due to a necessity of war.
To a common observer it would appear as if nothing was changed and yet the presence of the 9453rd Company
attached to the 554th Krieg Regiment was appearing to be lacking. Not that the duties were left unfulfilled,
but the act of a Guardsman from that company doing that Duty was becoming Sparser.
One Platoon vanished from the Table, then another, and so forth.
The Kreigers of that company were still there, in fact even more active judging by the constant movement of the
Troops from the 554th Compound, just not recorded by no measure.

It has been... An exhausting period, even to the tireless Hauptmann of the Company, #9453/1-101.
The Smoke of his Pipe now reached the ground of his office, becoming something akin to a fog,
obstructing the view of his work and causing a severe distress in his commanders over the times the fire alarm has been triggered.
But they would stomach it, they stomached him so far.
'The Complete Star-Cartography of the Damocles Gulf ' and 'Greater Good For You' were both placed in
some box and destined to move away from his office. With him carrying it.
He didn't have the time or the opportune moment to meet with the remarkable Cadian Captain with whom he danced
so long ago. War has its own necessities, He hoped she would understand the absence and well... what's to come.
She wasn't in her Barracks when #1-101 came stepped in, couldn't have expected otherwise and yet the dedication to duty here was so...
Tragic... to the Krieger. Maybe it had to do with his subordinate's erratic nature rubbing off on him? He'd have to read her report
on the matter, before he succumbs to this vile nature without direction. The Krieg Captain placed a 2-fist-sized,
well made wooden box on Perray's Bunk with an envelope attached. Dejectedly he marched out of this place,
spooking the clueless Cadians passing nearby.

"So this is it?" The Gruff voice of the Figure asked.
"Yes, my Lord, Unfortunately it is." the Ordinate-Assistant nodded in a sombre way to express his otherwise stony exterior.
"Do Holt or Krugermann know?"
"Only what they need to."
"And their Reaction?" Vulcanis smoothed a stay hair from his face "Livid but understanding. As much as they can. I already provided a replacement"
"Heard of her. Does she replace you on our matter?" "Afraid not, wasn't trained yet and no 100% guarantee of Loyalty."
"So why aren't you taking her with you?" The Abhuman shook his head "Too tied down here, this is the place where she would be the most of use right now.
Extraction can happen at a later date."
But the Figure knew the main reason was that Vulcanis is too prideful to allow the matter he started remain unfinished,
namely the assistance in the prosecution of this war.
"So where now, a Place Worse than this rock?" came the question with a small sense of sarcasm.
Laelianus removed his reflective glasses and looked over to the old star map pinned to the wall, half-hidden behind the proverbial ocean of paperwork "The Emperor Commands, and we Obey..." he started the ancient tune with a distant voice,
"Beyond the Stars and Far Away..." The gruff voice answered with grim acceptance.
The figure looked over at the map together with the Scriptorum Agent, how old was it? Did the denizens of this green stone ever watched on the happenings
beyond their simple closed lives? What does Vulcanis see differently with his wretched sight when looking upon it? Numbers most likely.
"The Huffers, are they..?" The figure asked with sudden interest "Unrelated" Laelianus interrupted, then looked sideways to the man with his grotesque swirling forms inside his eyes
"Just same shuttle, more efficient you see?"
"Of Course."

She couldn't tell them, she couldn't tell no one of them. Even as the engines activated and roared with a growl challenging the Planet's Gravity she didn't say a word.
Kriegers usually bid farewell to their Planet and life upon leaving, and even that didn't happen. Neither could she do so now to the Ally Units - To the Friends she made
when fighting alongside against the Xenos Menace. She couldn't cry either, it was weak and had one of them died the wouldn't bid her farewell too,
both occasions are quite unexpected, and if one goes to a patrol and yet doesn't return well - That's War, no matter how hard it may sting.
She remembered from her theoretical studying there were times in which Forces operating in the same or nearby sector crossed paths and fought side by side,
the 579th Valhallen Infantry, headed by the Hero, Commissar Cain was among such formations, but her regiment wasn't the 579th and she wasn't Cain.
"Mein Regiment." Long has she anticipated to say those 2 words again. Even now, no matter how the departure may hurt - being whole again exceeded the highest of exhilarations
Possible: To Die in Martyrdom for all of Krieg as one. #1-101 is surely the most pleased, she thought.
There was a single window offered in those cramped conditions of this overweight and overstuffed shuttle which wasn't placed in the cockpit, no one had any particular desire to be next to it and so the exchange with #9453/44-226 wasn't that hard to accomplish.
Unit #9453/8-316 looked out through the small window, fully equipped in full Krieg Regalia including the Heavy Coat one couldn't differentiate between her and say #9453/93-326 save for the fact she was the only one who looked out. It was necessary as they were told it might be a little cold as well as little oxygen.
My Regiment, Erika Thought. What it has become? What changed in each Company? How will they be stitched together into a coherent whole? Did the Troops themselves change?
She must have, #1-101 even commented on that when reading her report on Humans and her own irregularity, he didn't admonish her though, maybe there would be further changes in the 945th as a whole?
The Shuttle was in mid-atmosphere, she could see the green and grey and blue surface beneath and the constellations above, she remembered the events transpired down there, the eliminations, the joy, the hurt, the successes and defeats, many moments happened down there.
All those Moments will be lost, like Tears in a Rain.

No one searches for Voidcraft the size of an asteroid on purpose, especially when the energy it emits is so laughably small when it drifts in the system. No Tau, Imperials or even the Rogue Trader's sophisticated systems recognize it for its purpose and cargo.
The only sign that something was wrong or missing was when the Astropaths upon Naris and the Rogue Trader's Vessel felt a presence in the Warp, as if it is being torn open and something enters the Immaterium, like a ship.

The Warp Disturbance calmed down shortly after.