Sub umbra pudoris nostri, lux Dei-Imperatoris nos salvat!
We charge.
The tunnel's claustophobic, narrow blackness presses against us on all sides. I can hear my blood rushing, feel my heart throbbing, smell the fear of our prey on the stale air, taste the dusty coldness of the Schacht which leads to the Xenos-nest we're supposed to smoke out – but seeing? I can't even see my own hand before me. The Obermann instructed us to go in verdunkelt, which means no luminators, auspexes or glowsticks allowed.
Our steps cast tiny, muffled echoes into the darkness as we make our way towards our destination. The cool weight of my Hellgun pressed against my chest soothes me, and I feel the urge to hum the melody to Imperator, All mein Streben under my Luftmaske , but I fear to give away our position. The Alien has better hearing than us, and what's silent to me would be loud to them. So we press on in silence.
My thoughts drift back to my days of training. We've been drilled for these situations for months and months, along with learning all the other jigsaw puzzle pieces of our profession. Shaft integrity assessments on the fly. Laying explosives at critical junctions. Projections of collapse cascades. Sapping and undermining. Tunnel warfare. Ambush tactics. Lures. Lectures from the Magi Biologis on Xenos anatomy. Weapons training. Drills in commando tactics and guerilla warfare by our brothers from Catachan. It amounts to an unbelievable, almost unbestable pool of expertise and proficiency - yet, none of it felt unnatural to me. War is in our blood, as it was in my father's, his father's and his father's father's. All who came before me laid down their lives for the Imperium. I catch myself smiling at this, for there is no greater honour than the prospect of a glorious death in battle. I check the battery of my weapon for the nth time, see that my Stielhandgranaten are loose on their rings and the safety on my gun is off, all while hurrying down the inky corridor. By now, the stench of the reeking enemy is almost chokingly dense. My eyes recognize a light in the distance, weak and blue, but definite and inevitable as is our victory.
My ears pick up a shriek. The light ahead of me is blocked out by a shape for the glimpse of an eye, which involuntarily makes me raise my gun and take aim. I hear the Obermann in my vox bead.
"Feuer frei!"
And the shooting starts.
My name is Klärmann Tirom Schacht and I serve the Meritocrats as a Grubenklärer, one of the Pale Sons, the steel core of Nykur's military arm. When the molemen are too blind to find the enemy, you call for the real soldiers.
Yes, that would be us. Stop asking.
The Pale Children, or Grubenklärer as they are officially designated, are the elite-cadre of nykurian warriors. Every single one of them has fought den Ewigen Feind , the Eternal Enemy, for over a decade in their home world's personal hell, the entry to Kallar's Cursing, an expansive cave system deep inside Nykur's guts from whence the vile and abhorrent spawn forth - and their lives know only duty and slaughter.
These men and women wear the pale faces of their fallen fathers' skulls on their respirators, to let them witness their unceasing continuation of the onslaught and to bring honour upon their rest at the place where all tunnels end. Heavily armed and armored with forge world Chroup's masterfully crafted equipment, they bring the Imperium's full infantry arsenal to bear upon the enemy.
The mines are dark, the mines are deep
For you no wife or child will weep
Like the white damps which suffocate
The vile we shall exterminate
Elite Infantry with Chroup Pattern Hotshot-Las 42 and nades.
Scaled in 28mm, remixed in blender, fixed in Microsoft 3D Builder, not printed yet but intended for resin.
Hope you'll enjoy.
OBJECTS USED:
SPACE JARHEAD TEMPEST SHIELD by STEELHEXMINIATURES
WEAPON FOR BUNKER NEW by LAFORGEAVAPEUR
RANDOM CABLES FOR PLASMA CANNON by PUBE99
FLEUR-DE-LIS PURITY SEAL by ELLIE_VALKYRIE
SLEEPING BAG by NICOCO3D
GERMAN BAG by NICOCO3D
SOLDIER BAG by NICOCO3D
SYMBOLS OF TRANSFERENCE - BLOODIED SERAPHIM by EXPLOSIVERUNES
HELMET by NICOCO3D
STAR 3D - OPENSCAD LIBRARY by DUSHU
BELT ADDONS FOR YOUR TABLETOP SOLDIERS by UDOS3DWORLD
L31A BAYONET by KABAS3D
LASGUN STYLED PCAR FOR DART ZONE BLASTERS by VALANDAR
INSTANT POWER WEAPON BIT by SNEAK_ATTACK
POWER CABLE GREEBLIES by ROB_JEDI
WARHAMMER AGILA by PACKAGE
FALLOUT COMBAT ARMOR by NEBBY22
LASGUNS COMPENDIUM by EASYV
LASGUNS COMPENDIUM 2: SLAVES TO GUN GOD by EASYV
IMPERIAL GUARD STANDARD BEARER by DERPETERSON
BOLTER-ACTION 1940K - COMPATIBLE WITH UDO'S CUSTOMIZER by MAFIAKIRBY
FASHIONABLE SPACEGUARDS 0.1(UDO'S CUSTOMIZER COMPATIBLE by MAFIAKIRBY
MOE THE DWARF by SCENESTRUCKART
MP40 FOR XXXX MINIFIGURES by G-point (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3697114)
VISORS AND GOGGLES by IPAINTSMALLTHINGS
ORC VEHICLE CONVERSION KIT 2 R by BOUBAMAZING
WIDOWMAKER HAND ARMOR (STANDARD SKIN) by REDDIRT3D
FORGEFATHER HELMET by RED-WARDEN-MINIATURES
PRIMARIS HELMET PLUME by BULLFROG2070
MASK SKULL by TAMARELLE
GERMAN FIELD TELEPHONE FF33 by POEPLECKA