>>2671674
He did. I could see it in his eyes – he knew the basics of what I wanted to hear, and he didn't want to talk about it. But, in his own words, he wasn't a heretic and would obey my request. His shoulders slumped and his eyes focused on the floor.

“Silon's Scrappers, the outfit I'm hooked up with... You know the story about them?” I lied. “Good folks, them. Bad lot that happened. Planet under siege by Chaos, just like mine was. Only the reinforcements got there decent season. Due to the strength of the assault, though, everybody was sent down pretty fast. Turns out, that's what those buggers wanted. Their twists came out of warp then, ended up taking one of the ships. Commander Silon and his boys had been guardin' the outskirts, kinda near the capitol. Since they weren't immediately needed for defense, and kinda not liked, they got sent up to retake it. Heavy losses, but they did. Finished the fightin' just in time to watch the exterminatus order go through.

“Tanith, of course, gets all the glory and stuff. Not that I ain't sayin' they deserve it! No sir, they earn their fame, believe me. Seen 'em, once. Real savvy folk, them. But they do all the sneaky stuff, and we just go for the final push. Not quite the same, right?” He bit his lip, trying to find the words. “We're a lot like them, except for operation style, so we kinda look at it like bein' overshadowed by a big brother."

>>2671679
“But they also got more of their original guys than we do, I think. We only got five or six, other than Silon himself. All of them aren't no higher than guardsmen, too. So, you know, all us sergeants are leftovers. You should know that, before I say anythin' more.”

He remained silent for some time, his eyes focused on the floor. No, past the floor. I was getting impatient, but Catherine's glare told me to let him tell it as he needed. I deferred to her judgment on this one. I could hear the heavy breathing of the damn psyker behind me in that silence.

I couldn't stand it any more. “Jim. What do you remember?”

There was a soft gagging noise out of him, but finally Jim began to speak. “We were dug in pretty tight, bein' the last pass. With us being uphill and havin' had plenty of time to prepare, we was tucked in pretty tight indeed. Four lines of trenches, each connected at the ends, and furrows dug into the walls of the pass for snipers. We'd put up armor that the orks had worn to protect 'em just a little bit more. Nice and tight. We'd broken up squads so that the front line was half las, half flamers and meltas. Behind us was what was left of the tanks, with the few Cadian and Armageddon pattern Sentinels we had. The Catachan ones were dug into the walls up past the front line, with the only Hellhound brought from the other pass set up between them. With the Catachans hidden from open sight, the Hellhound acted like a decoy until the xenos got close. We'd covered the legs of the Catachans with pretty much everythin' we could to protect them a little more. Between the tanks was turrets and mortars. Had more tucked in at the corners of the front lines, where we'd set up cover for them."

>>2671692
“I'd just come out of my own bit of rest. Medic'd cleared me to fight again. Dawn was comin' up, castin' a bit of light in the sky. The snipers were tellin' us that the greenskins down on the other end of the pass looked like they was gearin' up for one last big push. Said it looked like some of them bigger ones was fightin' with each other. Commissar decided to wake up the sleepyheads, let the snipers take a shot at any of the big ones they could draw a bead on. Didn't have to tell them twice. Everybody woke up when we heard the reports of them guns. Apparently it made the xenos scatter a bit. Heh. Woulda loved to have seen it, but I was busy. Pourin' recaf for the guys on turrets up near the front. I'd come up with the idea to get the sleep out of my own eyes, and decided to share it with the troops. We had to be ready, bright eyed and bushy tailed. They was comin' our way, and we knew it. Had to last until reinforcements arrived, had to keep the last pass.”

“What happened to the other pass?” I asked.

Jim blinked for a moment, but didn't come out of the memories. His hands worked at his knees uncomfortably. “That, yeah. That was way before. Only after the first six hours of fightin', after the first wave. I was takin' stock of damage done. We'd lost more men than I'd liked, but I didn't know the half of it yet. So far, I'd kept my eyes downrange and on my squad. The pass, it was littered with corpses, both human and xenos, along with the wreckage of their bikes and trucks. But we'd made it, and they'd turned tail and fled. Probably goin' to meet up with more of them to bring back."

>>2671699
“Since my squad was okay other than Lyssandra takin' one to her cybernetic leg, I hiked my sorry ass back to where I saw the vox officer standing with the Commissar, lookin' over the maps. Only took me a few minutes to realize what was goin' down. Change of orders, hold the pass. Commissar asked for reinforcements, but we got bad news on that one. 'All available units are engaged with objectives elsewhere,' the man on the other end of the line said. The Commissar, Commissar Ulrik, we shared a glance and I got to lookin' at the maps. After a minute, I saw another nearby pass marked Regiment 8-13A. I moved to the Commissar, chewin' my lip.

“'Listen,' I said. 'They're holdin' pass Bravo 912. It ain't much of a pass, real narrow and thin, with really high walls. If they blow those walls, the xenos can't make it in. Then they can come and back us up a little, you know?' That got a grim smile on the Commissar's face. 'The xenos can't take a place if it's destroyed, can they? Plus, it puts more of us in one place to hold the line.' So he gets on the vox again, callin' back to command. My stomach was doin' flip-flops the entire time that he barked back and forth with them. Said things that... Well, I'd never say somethin' like that to them myself. But he said them, all right. Just kept barkin' and barkin'. 'We need reinforcements,' he raged. 'Otherwise, both passes will fall!' After a little bit, they finally got to talkin' again, and told us that all surviving members of 8-13A would meed on our position. I threw my hands up into the air, singin' the praise of the Emperor. Commissar shut me up quick, though, tellin' me and the other sergeants to start plannin' out how we'd dig in."

>>2671709
“I was glad they came to back us up, though. We needed it. Two days after they'd gotten there, the greenskins came back with a vengeance. Of course, we was told that more reinforcements was on the way, but that it'd take four days for them to reach us. By the mornin' of the third day the remnants of the 8-13A was with us, the greenskins were makin' their big push. I was glad that we had collected everythin' up off the fallen. I was havin' to switch out packs on my lasrifle more often than I woulda liked. We was all pressed really tight, though. Lyssandra, every word outta her mouth don't need said in polite company, and Maksim, he was mean quiet as he was shootin'. Even worse was the boys mannin' the turrets. They was startin' to look real pale, getting' jittery. Course, the xenos were targetin' them bad, but that's no excuse.

“It got to the point where one quit firin'. I was down there to drop off some reloads for the meltas and flamers, so I looked over and realized, it wasn't cause they was out of ammo, it was cause the shooter was hidin' for cover. I slung my rifle and ran up to him, lickey split. Grabbed him by his flack and hauled him up to his feet. I knew he wasn't gonna listen to words, so I put my auto snub right under his nose. 'You're gonna man that gun,' I hollered. 'You're gonna man that gun and kill those xenos, or your brains is gonna decorate the ground and I'll find somebody else who will!' Course, I didn't get the chance to see either. Maksim grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled. I spun as I fell back into the trenches, takin' the gunner with me. Moment later, rocket hits right where we was standin'. Didn't make me stop, though. Grabbed a rifle from a dead guy, shoved it in the soldier's hands, and ordered his miserable hide to the front line to protect those flamers.”

“Wait,” Cassandra cut in. “Explain to us why you were giving orders yourself. Where was your commander?”

>>2671714
I was surprised that Jim could even hear her. His eyes were glazed over, not even focusing any more. The last time I'd seen that, the soldier couldn't even talk. But Jim was stronger than that one; his eyebrows furrowed tight as he spoke. “Commander Silon, he's a good guy. Leads from the front. It wasn't until after we drove the first wave back that I found out what'd happened. Towards the end, when he'd noticed that we was gonna win, he decided that he was gonna lead a charge to wipe 'em all out. He and the Lieutenant got up to lead the charge, when the greenskins noticed 'em. Commander Silon, he took four to the gut, and the Louie, nothin' was left of him but a stain on the ground and wall. Silon, though, he's a tough guy and was still alive. Wasn't getting' orders till we got a medical evac, but he was still breathin'.

“When the reinforcements arrived, we thought that they'd be bringin' with them another Commissar. Turns out, they'd lost him and their command staff at the start of their fight. Some of the xenos bikes and trucks had gotten by the main line and the command got the axe. Left the Commissar in a tough place. We saw their armor and transports comin', and got real anxious. We was hopin' that they woulda brought some more artillery, but their Basilisk had bought the big one somehow. We could use their sentinels and their tanks, though. They even had a Hellhound, which ended up ' worth every Throne spent to make it."

>>2671724
“Commissar Ulrik, though, he was lookin' mighty grim as he watched them come. Finally, he called over me, Lady, Hack, Flair, Tybalt, and Flavia. Then he had everybody else, both us and the other guys, line up in columns so that they all could hear him. That's when he starts to yell out. 'By the grace of the Almighty Emperor, our forces stand on Sucon soil -- soil consecrated in the blood of humanity. We have come, dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of His enemies, and of restoring, upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the humanity of the people here. The hour of your redemption is here. You Guardsmen have demonstrated an unswerving and resolute devotion to the principles that challenges the best that is written on the pages of human history. I now call upon your supreme effort that the enemy may know from the temper of an aroused and outraged people within that he has a force there to contend with no less violent than is the force committed from without.

“'Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of the Imperial Guard lead on. As the lines of battle roll forward to bring you within the enemy, rise and strike. Strike at every favorable opportunity. For your homes and hearths, strike! For future generations of your sons and daughters, strike! In the name of your sacred dead, strike! Let no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled. The guidance of the Emperor points the way. Follow in His Name to the path of this righteous victory!' I couldn't help myself. I bellowed out to the Emperor, followed by everybody else. But the Commissar, he wasn't done yet."

>>2671747
“As soon as we got done cheerin', he squares his shoulders back. I could feel his eyes borin' through the crowd as I stood next to him. 'These brave men and women before you, they stand as my voice. They will move amongst you, issuing orders. You will follow those orders as you would follow mine. Together, we will fight those accursed orks, drive them from our planet, and end their mindless slaughter of our people. They will fight for this pass, and they will fail! We will rise up and look across to the horizon, and see nothing but their corpses. We do this for the Emperor!' He raised his chainsword into the air, and we all bellowed again and he nodded. 'Those of you who have already been assigned tasks, get to them! Those of you who have just arrived, send your sergeants to me, and I will see to it that you are not idle.'

"Ulrik, he ain't been with us for long, but he's been a good Commissar. They teach them real good speeches nowadays. Whenever he'd hold up that chain saber of his, got a real rile out of the guys. May not be as heavy as those ones the Adepts Astartes use, but it's still a mighty handsome weapon, enough to inspire just about anybody. Everybody got to movin'. Lyssandra strutted up to me and slugged me in the shoulder."

“Lyssandra,” Catherine cut in again, checking her pad over. “She was from your original unit, wasn't she? The one who thought to set fire to the trenches?” Catherine wasn't being as hostile as she usually was. Apparently Jim was rubbing off on her, too.

He didn't so much as nod, though. He barely heard Catherine. “Don't know if I woulda made it this far without Maksim and Lyssandra. Only two from Hygar III with me. She's a scrapper, a good soldier. That augmetic leg she got when that bunker blew, back in our first fight, you think it'd slow her down. Gives her trouble on occasion, but nothin' slows her down. She can take anythin' that anybody can throw at her and dish it right back. She can be playful, done her share of practical jokes, but she can be real mean, too. Hangs around me a lot. I think it's cause I keep her laughin' so much.

“Anyway, she slugs me in the shoulder hard enough to make me rock. 'Oi! Voice o' the Commissar, eh? An' comin' up with emplacements? Don't let it get to your noggin' now.' I laughed, cause I knew what she was sayin'. I gave her a playful swat and got back to thinkin' about how we could best use the men and equipment those reinforcements brought. Didn't have the artillary like I was hopin', but had a Hellhound. Set that bad boy up front with the Catachan Sentinels, so that they could have convergin' fields of fire. Literally. If the greenskins had to fight through a wall of flame, made things that much easier for us. Besides, the slope we was diggin' the trenches into was steep enough that we could shoot over it. The two enginseers we had wasn't happy about how hard we was workin' them. We'd taken quite a pounding, and it wasn't like the other boys had come in perfect shape either."

>>2671761
“Still glad they came. It was like every greenskin on the planet ended up singlin' us out. The night... We'd turn the lights off most of the time, and regularly turn 'em back on to see if anybody was comin'. We'd take turns sleepin', eatin', you know. One time, the lights come on and we all see a bunch of different-lookin' greenskins out there, tryin' to sneak up to us. I knew that I wasn't assigned it, but I had a plasma rifle on me; more guns than bodies, and there wasn't much sense in lettin' it go to waste. Wasn't like I didn't know how to use it. I can fire any weapon we have, and drive and pilot just about anythin'. Anyway, I fire off, and they see me. Nevermind all the other people firin', they all start shootin' at me. Naturally, I get into do-or-die. Kill them or else I'm dead. I got careless, quit payin' attention to my weapon. I got one, heard Maksim bark out 'watch it,' went to target another one, and next thing I know, everythin's black.

“Woke up a few hours later, grittin' my teeth in pain. The rifle'd overheated, burned straight through my uniform and burned my left arm pretty bad and chest a bit, too. The medic, one of the reinforcements, had dragged me back behind the tanks and treated me. Good man, that one. Got me out of harm’s way and patched me up but good. Little on the foggy side, though, cause he kept tellin' me that I wouldn't be able to use my arm. Almost yelped in surprise when I lifted it. He must not've seen my chest too clearly. I've been through a lot, you learn to grin and bear it eventually. Might've had somethin' to do with the painkillers he'd given me, in all honesty. Usually go without them."

>>2671766
“By day, though, it didn't much matter. My arm was screamin' at me despite the painkillers. Fire until the battery runs dry, replace it. They was pushin' us hard. Even took out the Hellhound and one of the Sentinels. We could all feel it in our bones. It's somethin' that you just learn to see over time. When it's the last big push, all or nothin'. Just as badly as we needed to hold them back, they needed to push through us. Fightin' had eased up on most of the rest of the planet, but reinforcements, they never get there when you want them to.

“We'd worked the pass so that they couldn't come up straight, which helped kinda. Their trucks and bikes couldn't make a straight line, had to keep on movin' this way and that. Gave guys with rockets a better shot, once they got the hang of them. But it also gave the greenskins more cover for their ground pounders. They'd gotten two of our snipers, one of them was still smokin' in his hole. The other two were just poppin' out to take a shot whenever they could. Even the tanks up top were takin' good damage. Occasionally I could hear the voices of the enginseers, chantin' up a storm as they worked. You could hear the stress in their voxes. Even worse, they was out of servitors, so it was hard for them. Hard for all of us.

“Little after midday, My lasrifle went dry again, and I realized that the guy I sent up to grab more spares wasn't back yet. We was up in the fourth trench, my squad. Met him halfway up, and he asked if he should take some down to the first trench, seein' how they was squawkin' about runnin' low. Thought that a good idea myself, so I took a bunch and went down to do it personal-like. That way he could get back to shootin' and I could see if I could whip those boys and girls into a better frenzy."

>>2671772
“I was about halfway through the line when I heard the boys start concentratin' fire. Felt the ground rumble, too, real regular-like. Fearin' the worst, I poked my head up just in time to see him before he jumped in. Big greenskin, bigger than the rest of them. Helped that he'd replaced a lot of his green with metal. Used the trucks and even our own Hellhound for cover makin' his way up. Now he was inside our trench, and started swingin' that over sized cleaver of his. Guardsmen in the other lines, they knew better than to shoot down. Him so close, they was just as likely to hit one of us. They was focused on keepin' the rest of them from getting' to us. My rifle bein' out with a dead pack in it, and me bein' so close, I did the only thin' what made sense. I charged him, hearin' Maksim yellin' at me the entire time. The ork saw me, though, and swung. Ain't the first time I've been up close like this, though, and I learned a few things. Ducked and went for the lunge. Didn't figure I'd kill him, but hoped I'd slow him down a bit with my rifle stuck in him. He backfists me, though, sendin' me flyin' and makin' the world go all fuzzy and sparkle.

“Didn't stop Maksim from yellin' at me over the com bead. Took me a bit to get myself together enough to hear him, but when I did, he was hoppin' mad. 'Get up,' he was growlin'. 'If we don't get this guy, we're all dead. Now get. Up.' Then I hear a clunk nearby, like metal hittin' rock, and force my eye open. It was hard, like my body didn't want to move. First, all I saw was blood on the ground. My blood. Hand didn't want to move, but it came to my helmet, pullin' away chunks. Forced my eyes up, though, and saw somethin' that amazed me."

>>2671781
“Right in front of my face was the Commissar's chain saber. He was just... starin' at me. He'd been hurt but bad by the look of him, but he kept his cool. Just sorta gave me a glare that told me that I had to do what needed to be done, you know? Still, my body, it wasn't movin' so hot. That backhand busted up my helmet, cut a good gash up in my hair, rattled me about pretty good. But the Commissar and Maksim was right. I was still a guardsman, and I was still in it. Besides, I still had my ace. They'd given us stimms for a fight... I don't remember how long ago. Didn't use mine, but they told me to keep it. Figured I'd save it for a do-or-die time. Time had come.

“It was strapped to my leg, but my left arm didn't want to grab it quite right. I'd say it felt like it was chopped off, but that woulda hurt less. So I prayed as I got around with my right to grab it and jam it in. 'Oh Emperor of Mankind, Send Your gaze to me with benevolence, Watch over Your servant and soldier, And protect me from peril.' Jammed myself in my arm with it, and then... Well, it was like fire ran through my body for a second. Every muscle seemed to bulge, and I could feel my chrono diggin' into my wrist. After the fire, though, my head cleared and the pain went away. Officio Medicae, they'll tell you it was the drugs, but I think it was that the Emperor, he took pity on me. Saw that I was fightin', tryin' to do His work. Saw that I wasn't no mutant. Saw I ain't no heretic. I like to think that it's cause of Him that my arms started workin' right and I got my strength back. I ain't one to squander his blessin's, so I hauled my sorry self up, grabbed that chain saber, and started haulin' ass."

>>2671792
“The ork, the big one, he'd made it back to the second trench. They was puttin' up a fight, but it wasn't goin' so hot. Gotta give credit to the other lines, though. They did their jobs, keepin' the others at bay. I hauled my sorry ass up to the second line, and saw Malcolm's unit firin' away at the third. Good unit that one. When we do boxing matches, I hate goin' up against Malcolm. So I yell at him, 'Your unit with me, we're slammin' that greenskin!'

“Malcolm, he's been with us for a long time. Another good sergeant. But when I said that, his eyes lit up like fire. I got a reputation in the regiment. People listen to me. So I wasn't the least bit surprised when they all came down to the second trench. I just gave out a cry, no real words, just noise to motivate them in the charge, and they was right with me. The big greenskin, he turns around as we get close, probably from all the screamin' we was doin'. Swung with that big cleaver of his, and we all ducked. Lucius, he didn't duck fast enough, but he didn't feel no pain. Quick death.

“We all slammed into him, the bulk of Malcolm and his boys doin' just what I figured it would. Knock the damn xeno off his big metal feet. I kinda clung to him, and skidded so hard when he landed that my head hit that big metal jaw of his. Didn't take him but a moment to try and pull us off of him. Grabbed Arl and lifted him right up into the air. Not that we was just gonna lay there and let him. I felt a bayonet clip my leg as they started stabbin' any fleshy bits they could find, or even just a tube or somethin'. That's what saved Arl; the augmetic arm the ork had lost power."

>>2671801
“They was doin' their part, so I did mine. Hauled myself up, looked right into the greenskin's eye, and raised the sword. My howl, it was about the same pitch as the chain was spinnin'. Brought that sword down right into the bastard's eye, yankin' it this way and that. After a moment, he quit strugglin' all together. I stood up, raisin' the blade into the air and bellowed 'He's dead!' That got a huge cheer out of everybody. Everybody but the greenskins, that is. Some of them turned and started to run. I think thin's was gettin' a little too stressful for them, that their command was startin' to fall apart before even this, cause some of them turn and start fightin' each other. Just crazy. Made it far easier pickin's, takin' the rest of them out. Well, most of them.”

Jim looked up at us and smiled a bit. “Yeah, that's... That's pretty much how it went. After that other regiment joined us, we had been at about a regiment and a half. End of that battle, we had about a half a regiment. Virtually no armor left, despite how hard the Enginseers was workin' on them. We was still fightin' leftovers when the real reinforcements came three days later, but it wasn't nothin' like before. Lyssandra, she made sure that the squad didn't leave my side after that, though. I'd lost plenty of weight, and my knee was givin' me trouble again, not to mention my arm. For a few days after, I'd have moments where my strength would just leave me."

Man, this is some inept prose. Stop, please.

>>2671812
“Still, I don't see why people are makin' such a fuss about it. I didn't do that much. Just barked some orders, came up with ideas for how to dig in, and killed an ork. Heck, if the other lines had lost it and started shootin' him, I wouldn't have lived to try and kill him. The other greenskins woulda made it into the trench and killed me. Killed all of us. And I couldn't have knocked him down alone. Malcolm and his boys, they had the weight behind them. So, really, it's everybody else who saved the day, right? Teamwork and all that.”

Jim smiled at us, firmly in the present now. Personally, I was still digesting it all. There are some soldiers who embellish things, but I got the distinct impression that Jim wasn't one of them. I'd spent all this time listening to him drawl out his story, separating what I needed to know from what I didn't. Now that it was done...

I offered him another lho stick. He took it, but didn't light. I needed one to compose my thoughts, and he needed to ground himself in the present. I needed him in the present. I still had a few unanswered questions.

>>2671829
“That's quite the impressive story, Jim.” I took a deep breath, letting it out with an impressed sigh that was more for effect than anything. “Quite the impressive story indeed. That said, there are a couple of things that I need to ask you.” I picked up my datapad, scrolling through to the personnel roster. “There's a problem with my copy of the squad listing. Can you give me the first name of everybody in your squad?”

“Huh?” Jim blinked, slightly confused by the question. Good. “Well, in alphabetical order, there's Bruk, Callida, Gob, Klightus, Lionus, Lyssandra, Maksim, Octus, Shiv and Zek. Oh, and myself of course.”

“Ah, Zek. He was at the bottom so I didn't see him.” I set the datapad to the side. “Your regiment is known not only for being the remnants of other regiments, but also for carrying an odd tide of superfluous gear with you, such as your stimms. Is there anything else that you carry?”

Jim scratched his cheek with one finger as he thought. “Well, I used to have a spare grenade, but I just used it. There's my blessed Aquila coin. A couple of extra pouches of water purification tabs. I used to carry a harmonica, but it got too beat up to use a few planets back... Really, all that I carry are the extra odds and ends that are assigned to me that I'm told that it's okay to keep. Other than the coin, the harmonica, and the signal mirror I picked up for shaving.”

“I see...” I made a mental note of that.

>>2671838
“I have a question for you,” Catherine said slowly. “This is from before. How old are you?”

Jim blinked and started to think. One could virtually hear his mind plodding away. “I can't really say. I'm sorry, but I don't pay attention to things like that...”

“Or were you ordered not to say?” Catherine's jaw was set now. I'd hoped not to approach this subject, or to keep from bringing it up all together.

“No, not that at all.” Jim had that conflicted expression on his face. “I mean, I'm not lying to you in the slightest. No orders or nothin'. I honestly lost track.”

“But you know how old you were when you joined.” Jim looked down at the ground and said nothing. Catherine was really pushing the guy. “You know the rules and regulations, Jim.”

“Yeah, but I didn't back then. Heck, I didn't even think that they'd take me. One guy asked me how old I was, and I told him, but he just told me that I was older.”

“Was it a member of the Guard, Jim?”

He sighed and shook his head. “No. No, it wasn't. The government boys handled all of our paperwork. I just... I never said anythin' about it because... Well, I was afraid that they'd make it hard on my family. That and nobody ever asked. I was tall for my age, real tall, and workin' the farms made sure I wasn't too skinny. So nobody ever questioned, nobody ever said a word.”

>>2671844
“We figured as much,” I said, not wanting Catherine to yell at him over it. “In fact, you aren't the only case of this happening, but we just wanted confirmation. The planetary governor has already been... disciplined for his involvement in the matter.” It had been his idea, from what I read in the reports, but no need to push the issue.

“Now, there is one more thing,” I continued. “We just need to scan you for a moment.” I gestured to the sanctioned psyker behind me. “It's nothing too important. Just a check for corruption and loyalty. While I believe you when you say that you aren't a heretic, there are still regulations that we must follow. Much like your own paperwork, as a matter of fact.”

He didn't look like he appreciated the thought of a psyker dealing with him, but he nodded.

“Thank you, Jim.” I waited a moment before looking at the psyker behind me. The damn fool was just standing there. After a moment of glaring, though, he got the hint.

He approached slowly, almost hesitantly before touching the soldier's face. Almost immediately, he jolted, but Jim didn't so much as twitch. The guardsman stared up at the psyker with eyes that burned with... almost hate. Severe dislike would be a better phrase.

The psyker, however, was seeming to have trouble. Catherine's hand was on her gun again as blood began to dribble out of the psyker's nose. That... wasn't normal. “Jim,” she said slowly. “Relax. If you relax, it will be over that much sooner.”

Jim sighed, closed his eyes, but he did relax. Immediately, an expression of relief washed over the psyker's face. In a way, it wasn't too surprising to me. Still, I took the moment to glance at the datapad with Jim's service history on it.

>>2671847
After an eternity, the psyker released Jim and returned to his position behind me. Meanwhile, the poor guardsman was blinking rapidly. Probably trying to clear his head. I found myself vaguely sympathetic towards the man, a dangerous thing in my line of work. Thankfully, Cassandra was quick to put on the act while I was pushing my emotions away.

“I know that we previously ignored your questions about this inquest,” she said with a rare smile. “However, we wanted to make sure of some things before we said anything.”

My own smile came back, easy as ever. “I'm sure that you can understand, we must assure ourselves of the purity and faith of somebody who has been nominated for the Merit of the High Lords or the Honorifical Imperialis, let alone both...”

Jim just about choked on his own tongue at that. “You mean, just for doin' my part I got nominated for those two?”

I had to fight to keep from laughing. “Yes, indeed. Those two medals and... Well, there were others, but I think they were regimental...?”

“Planetary,” Catherine corrected. I was amazed by how into the lie she was getting...

“Planetary, yes. Thank you. Of course, being such a fine, upstanding Sergeant such as yourself...”

Jim shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “I dunno what to say... I was just-”

“You were just doing your job. Yes, we know. That is why we handle such cases. A braggart is undeserving of such merits, as he could lie to get them. No, I think that I speak for both of us when I say that, barring a few minor details that we still need to investigate, we will be approving the application.”

>>2671856
“I dunno what to say.” The tears were about to fall, and the man was starting to slur his words a bit. Suddenly, he was on his feet, saluting us again. Probably the only way that he knew how to show what he was feeling.

“Don't say anything. Not a word to anybody, Jim. You know how these things are. It could be some time before the application is approved and the medals are awarded, and you don't want to be thought a liar on this sort of matter. And that... Well...” I smiled. “However, if you could do me one favor...”

“Anythin', sir. Say the word.”

How sweet. “If you could go to the chapel and give thanks to the Emperor properly...”

“Of course, sir. I was already thinkin' on doin' that anyways, soon as you told me.”

“Good! Then you are dismissed, Sergeant.”

Jim saluted one more time for good measure before making his exit. He was so happy that he was fit to burst. As soon as the door closed, I reached for the report that Venris had delivered, only to discover that Catherine had already snagged it. Damn. I reached for another report on Jim's military career. We only had so much time to give our own reports, and the inquisitor is nothing if not adamant about our preparedness.

CHAPTER 3 END
TO BE CONCLUDED

And sorry about the massive walls of text. For those wanting the first two chapters, they can be found here.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2600504
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2620824

>>2671879

No need to apologise, thank YOU sir. I enjoyed it and will read the previous chapters now.

I have never seen someone named Jim in the 41st century. I mean Jakob von Kriegenstein or Johan Burnigston but Jim isn't Imperial Gothic much less grimdark.

>>2672093
As said before, I suck at names. But there's a longer explanation.

It started out as a joke in a thread involving a Tau offering people ice cream. I recycled two other characters for it; an unnamed Guardsman and his best buddy, Maksim. As a lark, since I wrote him with a hick voice, I named him Jim. In that thread, the idea for the story was born. I never intended Jim for anything more than a joke making fun of the hicks I grew up around, but... Yeah.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2671674/

Archived'd.

How many parts will there be?

>>2672179
One last chapter, where I plan to answer all of the questions that have been posted thusfar. Well, almost all. There's one question that I'll leave open for other people to answer.

Well take Gaunt's Ghost.

As for the IG names you got Larskin, Rawne, Feygor, and Ibram Guant. I'm sure I mispelled those... Anyways... It was always my impression if you needed to do IG names you need to either get a history book of either:

I think the author of Guant just plays scrable with a bunch of e's and r's makes shit up. Though his problem is that he names every single minor fucking character... Even if its like:

"Gaunt see a young private named Klawenig who he has never seen before pick up a rocket launcher and shoot at a Chaos Bane blade which bounces off like a pea shooter. Klawenig is then vaporated by the maingun as Gaunt cries out in vengence and leaps on top of the bane blade and rips the hatch off with his bare fingers and punches off the heads of all the cultists inside in anger."

Well the second omnibus is a lot better than the first, but anyways to get IG names I think the best one is too look at history books.

WWII Germans
WWI British Names
Russian Civil War Names
Or names from 1850's USA.

>>2672288
Yes, I hear what you're saying. Yes, perhaps James was a poor choice for a name. Yes, I have admitted this fact early on in my writing. No, I cannot change it now. It was too late once I realized this fact. I'm sorry I offended you in not choosing a name that was grim and dark to represent a hick character who spends the majority of his life smiling.

That said, by your list, James is still an appropriate name from two of those examples.

>>2672288
"James" is not exactly a name invented in the 21st century, man.

Hell, there were kings named James.

It's officially crossposted to the blog you all had me set up, blah blah blah.

Anyway, if there are any more questions people want me to address in the final chapter, then now's the time to ask them.

goddamn that was awesome
also
thank you for not killing him off

>>2674140
Thank you. That said, there is one final chapter to this little tale. The Inquisition isn't done with him yet, so his fate is still up in the air...

I think the first two chapters had a better quality of writing; at least I recall them that way, since I don't have time to go back and reread them.

That said, I'm pretty friggin eager to see the conclusion. Go Jim!

Awesome. Loved it. Want moar.

>>2674253
True. I'll grant you that, and I do apologize. Unfortunately, I can't get this tooth pulled until Thursday for some stupid reason, so it's a little hard for me to concentrate. I felt this was a little sub-standard myself, but... yeah. I promised a week, and I wasn't about to miss the deadline. (One day early!)

Also, everybody thank Hooks for filling in for my usual proofreaders, since they were on vacation.