Back in the Fold
The Ordo Xenos has kept extremely close tabs on the Diggaz of Ghorok, known more recently as the Shatara 1st Regiment. The humans of that distant world had spent decades fighting the greenskins while not only surviving but thriving in opposition to the Xenos.
Under the command of Commissar Moira Wrathberg, the Regiment had been stress tested against several Xenos threats since their re-indoctrination into the Astra Militarum. They had excelled at every engagement. As such, the Regiment's strength had been bolstered from other populations with similar experiences from throughout the Imperium.
In the past, humans living under brutal Orkoid regimes are found in such wretched states of madness that they had to be given the Emperor's Mercy, but under the guidance of those who had been through it and come out the other side, these people learned to harness their experiences into rage against their former oppressors. This was enough for the Ordo Xenos and the Administratum to accept the Shatara 1st as a legitimate force under the banner of the Imperium.
Purging an Insidious Threat
The Shatara 1st earned the trust of the regional commanders of the Somnium Stars during the Shadrac Campaign. The world was beset by internal strife -- a terrible uprising of Genestealers. The population was so downtrodden and miserable that it was impossible to notice the signs of infestation until it was far too late. The Imperium attempted to purge the threat first with the local PDF, then with off-world reinforcements. The cancer of cultists continued to infect the world's underhives.
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Jaen Park came across the reports of this conflict in her usual debreif cycle and considered it a perfect opportunity for the Shatara 1st to show their quality. The Regiment was shoved into harm's way with a hasty deployment into one of Shadrac's hottest combat zones. Their heavy troop transport made a successful landing, but it was little more than a smoking ruin whence it did so.
When the assault ramp dropped, the Diggaz of Ghorok spilled forth into what they expected to be the thick of battle. Instead, silence greeted them. Commissar Wrathberg was not fooled. She ordered her teams to move forward through the hive, taking defensive positions as they did, leapfrogging from one hab-block to the next. It was tiring and boring for the hot-headed regiment, but necessary.
An unexpected blast of weapons fire from out of nowhere pinned them down followed by the revving of industrial engines. Growling transports full of Neophytes and a horde of Purestrain Genestealers surged toward the Shataran position. The guardsmen's machine pistols roared in their hands while Commissar Wrathberg screamed vile oaths at her soldiers. Lascannons lanced out into the haze, torching enemy machines and gun emplacements alike.
Although the enemy laid in wait with deadly breaching charges and powerful alien physiologies, the Diggaz did not balk at the challenge. They drove head-first into the fray, their heavy blades hacking at the enemy with impunity. Backed up by a squadron of Leman Russ and Hellhounds, the Shataran 1st was able to blunt the enemy's assault.
Sensing an inevitable defeat, the Patriarch who had been watching nearby, joined in the battle, rending into infantry and vehicle alike. Commissar Wrathberg was not one to balk at such a brash challenge. She jumped from her vantage point, ordering her command squad and Company Commander (Digganob) Manos to assault the vile creature. The plucky guarsmen and their Commissar dragged the Patriarch down and chopped his massive form to bits, after which he dissolved into a boiling miasma of acidic slurry.
The Diggaz of Ghorok had won the day on Shatara and eliminated a dangerous threat. Their chests full with pride, the guardsmen pressed on into the city's depths in search of more prey.
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