The Emperor Preserves

by Centurion Pike-Wall

5~Digging In

Author's Note:

Imperial Thought of the Day: The industrious may escape death.

A bolt of sunlight slammed Anton in the eye, coaxing it open. Despite the protests of his twisted body, his mind had awoken, and with it, the body stirred. He lifted up his head, watching as the sun filtered into the cave entrance. Just beyond that, he saw the broken wooden shapes of the beasts he had killed last night. He turned his head a bit, seeing the Heavy Bolter that he rested against. He cracked a small smile and murmured, "'Big guns never tire', eh?"

He stood, his shoulder aching from leaning against the heavy weapon. He rolled it slightly, finally being greeted by a faint crack. He turned back into the cabin of the Valkyrie, grabbing the Mk. IVc and climbing out of the back. He pushed his way around the pushed aside scraps of metal, coming to a stop over the two piles of wood. He kicked the remains of one's head, which broke apart fully under the impact. He muttered, "Xenos scum", before spitting on it. Even if it was just an animal, it was still something he could enact righteous vengeance against.

He slung the lasgun over his body, turning to look at the space between the cave and the two outcroppings on either side. It was simple grass, which they had covered without him knowing. Not to mention, the cave had proven not to be defensible, meaning that he had need of a better-fortified position.

He sighed; he knew exactly what that meant. He turned back to the Valkyrie, climbing into the cabin and heading for the back. He slid a belt holding the power sword and the laspistol on it around his side, tightening it as best he could. He wrapped his webbing around his forward body, clipping it over his undershirt. Finally, he grabbed the last thing he would need in order to take care of the issue: his entrenching tool.

Even though he was with a Drop Trooper, that didn't mean he didn't know how to dig trenches or set up fortifications. As Elysian units were often deployed behind the lines of the unclean, they often had to create hardpoints in order to resist being rooted out. As such, he had been taught how to throw up a few basic defensive structures and positions. Even if he hadn't, it seemed simple enough.

He headed back out of the cave, eyeing the treeline beyond the mouth of the small canyon. He turned back to the scattered bits of metal at the mouth of the cave. While they'll be useful, they simply weren't enough of them nor in the right shape or size in order to viable for standard throw-up fortifications. He snorted, sliding the entrenching tool into his webbing and beginning a slow walk towards said trees.

+++++~+++++

Anton growled around the entrenching tool clenched in his teeth, his aura focused on dragging the massive pile of chopped wood behind him. He finally reached the entrance of the canyon, dropping the wood and spitting out his shovel. He rubbed his teeth against the fur on his front limb, trying to get the taste of cheap paint and rubber out of his mouth.

After a bit, he finally managed to get it down to a tolerable level, and turned back to the wood. It was mostly made from sturdy branches and a few small saplings. He drew his knife and grabbed the nearest cut-down sapling and began to little down the end of it. Using his aura to use the knife while both of his front limbs held the sapling was surprisingly efficient, and soon he had a small pile of wood shavings in front of him, as well as a sharpened wooden pike.

He stabbed the blade into the mud, bringing the tip of the pike over towards him, tapping a limb into the tip. A small prick of pain came from the limb, and he set it down. Grabbing another, he repeated the process, holding it in both limbs and using the knife to whittle down the tip. Soon, he had a small pile of about eight.

He grabbed a pair of thicker logs, as well as a few bits of cords and scraps of metal. He grabbed the metal shard and the two logs, using the flat of the entrenching tool to nail it in. The wood splintered slightly, but appeared to hold. Indeed, when he shook the two logs, it didn't seem to budge. Grabbing the pikes and the cords, he began to lash them to the top of the T-shaped bar. Soon, he had a decent length of an Abatis.

He dug another small hole, near the wall of the canyon entrance. He stuck the bottom in the whole, before taking a step back in order to look at the defensive structure. The far end touched the canyon wall, extending about half-way across the canyon mouth. He stoped down, stepping around the protruding buts of the pikes in order to pack dirt around the base. Stepping back, he couldn't help but smile. That smile faded as he turned to the open space, and then to the small bundle of branches. He didn't have enough to make another abatis of that size; and even then, he still had to make a door of sorts in order to get out of the canyon, should the need arise. Meaning, he needed more wood.

He sighed, grabbing the shovel and his lasgun. This was going to be a long day.

Comments

[msgunner501]

What's an imperial guard without fortifications? Keep up the great work here.

[Maulet Paya]

This is gonna be glorious

[Schwabauer]

10555329
A corpse.

[RidiculouslyOP]

Even though he was with a Drop Trooper

Even though he was a Drop Trooper.