Commissar-Colonel Ibram Gaunt slumped into the plain camp stool in his tent with exhaustion. The battle was over. After a long, hard fought struggle, the Tanith First-And-Only had taken the forest world of Targoth V. And it wasn't just that they had defeated the enemy - Lord General Van Voytz had formally credited the Ghosts with having conquered the planet, meaning that under the decree that Warmaster Slaydo had given on his deathbed, the planet now belonged to Gaunt. Which meant that Gaunt could finally keep the promise that he had made to Colm Corbec the night that Tanith fell. He now had a New Tanith to give to replace the Old.
It had been a long and costly struggle to reach this point. So many of the men he had saved from the fall of Tanith were now dead. Bragg, murdered on Phantine. MkVenner and Caffran, both dead on Gereon. Dorden, felled by cancer. Corbec himself, killed on Herodor. Even the struggle that had just ended had taken the lives of many Ghosts. Mkoll had lured an entire regiment of Blood Pact soldiers into a trap that wiped them out utterly, but had taken a stray round in the process. Larkin had managed to kill the General commanding the local Blood Pact garrison, but they had responded with an artillery barrage that completely immolated the building he had been sniping from, along with everything inside. Rawne had led the final charge that had broken the enemy's back, but had been grievously wounded in the process. Gaunt now waited for his second-in-command to get out of surgery so that he could tell him that he had finally won himself a new home.
Doctor Curth, who had taken over as head doctor of the Ghosts after Dorden's death, came into the room, her surgical scrubs soaked in blood.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, but Major Rawne didn't make it." She reported.
Gaunt froze. That was two of the three men who had been there when he promised the Ghosts a new homeworld that had fallen. He called up the regiment's roster and started looking through the names. Down the list he searched, and found that every single name he saw was Verghastan or Belladonian. Merrt? No, he had been killed in the last battle, it just hadn't been logged yet. Were there any actual Men of Tanith left?
Wait. There was one. Brin Milo, the boy that Gaunt had personally saved from the fires of Tanith. The one Ghost who hadn't been at the battle, because he had been seconded to the service of Saint Sabbat years before. He wasn't at the battle. He was still alive. Gaunt hadn't failed all of them.
A messenger came in and saluted. "Sir, you have a message from Crusade High Command." Handing it over, the man left.
Gaunt didn't think that Warmaster Macaroth would have sent him a message about his victory so soon. Then again, given the peculiarities of the Warp, it was entirely possible that the message reporting the capture of Targoth V reached him long before the victory had been won. Gaunt turned his eyes to the message. It wasn't from Macaroth. It was from Saint Sabbat.
It is my solemn duty to inform you that Trooper Brin Milo has fallen in the line -[\i]
Gaunt dropped the message. He didn't want to read any further. There were no more Men of Tanith. Not one man who escaped the destruction of the Old Tanith would be able to build a home on the New Tanith. He had failed in his promise to Corbec. He had failed his Ghosts. Here, at the moment of his greatest triumph, he had failed.
Ibram Gaunt cradled his head in his hands and wished that his augmetic eyes could weep.
A/N: Given how the Gaunt's Ghosts stories are going, it's very likely that this is how their tale will end.
It had been a long and costly struggle to reach this point. So many of the men he had saved from the fall of Tanith were now dead. Bragg, murdered on Phantine. MkVenner and Caffran, both dead on Gereon. Dorden, felled by cancer. Corbec himself, killed on Herodor. Even the struggle that had just ended had taken the lives of many Ghosts. Mkoll had lured an entire regiment of Blood Pact soldiers into a trap that wiped them out utterly, but had taken a stray round in the process. Larkin had managed to kill the General commanding the local Blood Pact garrison, but they had responded with an artillery barrage that completely immolated the building he had been sniping from, along with everything inside. Rawne had led the final charge that had broken the enemy's back, but had been grievously wounded in the process. Gaunt now waited for his second-in-command to get out of surgery so that he could tell him that he had finally won himself a new home.
Doctor Curth, who had taken over as head doctor of the Ghosts after Dorden's death, came into the room, her surgical scrubs soaked in blood.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, but Major Rawne didn't make it." She reported.
Gaunt froze. That was two of the three men who had been there when he promised the Ghosts a new homeworld that had fallen. He called up the regiment's roster and started looking through the names. Down the list he searched, and found that every single name he saw was Verghastan or Belladonian. Merrt? No, he had been killed in the last battle, it just hadn't been logged yet. Were there any actual Men of Tanith left?
Wait. There was one. Brin Milo, the boy that Gaunt had personally saved from the fires of Tanith. The one Ghost who hadn't been at the battle, because he had been seconded to the service of Saint Sabbat years before. He wasn't at the battle. He was still alive. Gaunt hadn't failed all of them.
A messenger came in and saluted. "Sir, you have a message from Crusade High Command." Handing it over, the man left.
Gaunt didn't think that Warmaster Macaroth would have sent him a message about his victory so soon. Then again, given the peculiarities of the Warp, it was entirely possible that the message reporting the capture of Targoth V reached him long before the victory had been won. Gaunt turned his eyes to the message. It wasn't from Macaroth. It was from Saint Sabbat.
It is my solemn duty to inform you that Trooper Brin Milo has fallen in the line -[\i]
Gaunt dropped the message. He didn't want to read any further. There were no more Men of Tanith. Not one man who escaped the destruction of the Old Tanith would be able to build a home on the New Tanith. He had failed in his promise to Corbec. He had failed his Ghosts. Here, at the moment of his greatest triumph, he had failed.
Ibram Gaunt cradled his head in his hands and wished that his augmetic eyes could weep.
A/N: Given how the Gaunt's Ghosts stories are going, it's very likely that this is how their tale will end.