Prenaxian 1443rd

[SteveBerenyi]

The depredations of the last Black Crusade had taken their toll on the Cadian Sentries of Prenaxian 1443rd. They had been assigned to hold the the small planet of Prenaxis just inside the Cadian gate.

However, with the newest black crusade they were subjected to the Plage Fleet of Typhus, and much to their dispair they were hit not only by the Destroyer Plague, but the Zombie plague as well.

As time passed, their commander, Commisar Hadnan Kreed, started to change. It was more of a slow change and not in the way the the twin plagues of Nurgle had changed his men, more of a change in mindset. His transmissions to Cadia became less frequent and what transmissions that were sent were less and less a commendation on his men and more of a warning not to come to Prenaxis. He isolated his contingent from the Imperium by telling of the plagues and asked that the planet be quarantined, and it was, he killed his men by the dozens when they did not agree with his path of leadership, Slowly his men were either killed or whittled down to the few that gave him total leadership.

When it became apparent that he himself was infected with the Destroyer Plague, his contingent was far beyond the ability to make an atempt at killing him, and his own cotire was at that point fully dedicated to the "Uncle".

And so it was that Prenaxis, a small and seemingly unimportant planet inside the cadian gate had fallen to the all loving embrace of Grandfather Nurgle.

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Part One, The Making of A Man.

M39.83

I was born to the planet Cadia. Growing up was a test, just like everything that has happened, A test. The family I had was a harsh one. Duty, Honor, Service, The Emperor, these were fed to me with breakfast and protein pills. War was a constant, death an old friend. Life, I was taught, was a test. How far does the Emperor protect? This was to become the question of my life.
My Father, I was told often, was a colonel in the Imperial Guard. My mother, a hard and intelligent woman, was by the age of thirty four a mother of six daughters. I was the final child and on the day of my birth she was informed of the death of her husband, my father, at the hands of the fallen. She forever held that against me, As if I was the cause of my father’s death.
As the only son of an officer, I was expected. Expected to excel, Expected to take my father’s place for the Emperor, Expected to show them that the Kreed name would last in the annals of the Imperium far longer than just a single generation. I was Expected.
By day, I was taught the use of weaponry, from grenades and sidearms to rifles and heavy weapons. By night, strategy, manouvers, and everything else that a battlefield commander could possibly use. My mother was a hard taskmistress, but I never resented her. Nor, however did I love her. Her relentless pursuit of my military education was the only thing, I believe, that kept her alive after the death of my father.
My sisters married guardsmen and moved away, two even joined the guard themselves. We talked little. When it came time for me to join, my mother forbade it, instead requiring more knowledge to be forcefully inserted into my pate. Two more years I spent with her learning to the best of my ability. In doing so I watched the last of her strength leech into myself. Towards the end, she took sick. A wasting illness that sapped her strength that sapped her will as much as her strength. She never fought it, instead concentrating on my education at her own expense. I saw it’s progression, but said nothing, and when finally she did die, I saw it for what it was. She had given up. She no longer desired life, and fitting to that, having give up the right to be alive, her life was taken from her. A test. She had failed this test, showing me the fruits of a failure. In her death she gave me the last of her knowledge and her greatest lesson, NEVER FAIL, For failure carries the weight of death.
I joined The Guard.

[Captain Slow]

hmmm...sounds interesting steve i cant wait to read more. BTW This wouldnt be based around the 13th black crusade would it? (daft quesion i know, but, he has launched 13 crusades)

[SteveBerenyi]

yes, it would.

[SteveBerenyi]

Added Part 1: The making of A Man.