88th Takedian

Pulled from the dense, overpopulated, hive cities of Takeda come an Imperial Army regiment of renown, their role of honour stretching across the history of the Great Crusade. The **88thTakedia**, also known as the **Street Devils**, are known across the Imperium as one of the first choices for the conquering of cities if legions are not avaliable. Bred and trained in the streets of their continent spanning hive cities, they train for the close quarters warfare that would tear other regiments to shreds. The cities of Takeda are feudal in structure, with a large gap between nobles and their serfs.

The officers are pulled from the noble ranks, equipped with the best armor and weapons for their preferred method of fighting. The officer class are known as Shogunates, while a Shogun and Shogun-prime are elite warriors of great skill and cunning. They can be marked out by the devilish face plates they wear and the power katanas at their hip as a show of nobility. The youngest of the great clans that rules the many different districts of the Takedian hive cities are usually chosen for this honorable duty and train from birth to be part of this elite fighting force, and is often thought to be the only way the youngest sons can earn honor as they cannot inherit the titles and rights of their fathers. Shogunate families usually produce thousands of sons as heads of the households have a wife and thousands of concubines, which bear him untold number of sons and daughters, many with the sole purpose of feeding the Takedian military machine. Any son other then the first born, and several of the next in line, who does not serve in the 88th are shunned and disowned by the family, and many do not live long in the brutal city life if such a fate befalls them, ensuring that life in the regiment is their best, and in truth only, option.

The noncommissioned officer corps is made up of an entirely different breed. These are warriors made up of ex-gang members, police forces Takeda or members of the lower enlisted ranks who showcase enough natural apptitude or tenacity to be marked for promotion. These warriors are those who swear loyalty to a shogunate directly or the Shogunate's family and have proven their worth in combat, either by great renown or by taking control of a gang, are risen to the ranks of Samurate. This as seen as a way to raise themselves up from the streets into a greater life and many born into the squalor of the cities seek this route. The Samurate, once sworn to the family, swear loyalty to not just the family but a code of honor and a life dedicated to the path of the warrior. To survive the brutal transition takes calm, dedication and no shortage of will. The Samurate undergo genetic and cybernetic enhancements as well as intensive training to better fit them for their way of war, with any day not spent serving the Shogunate in combat instead spent mastering the disciplines of the honor code and Samurate.

Finally, the line troopers are made up of serfs corralled from the city depths, those who owe allegiance to the shogunate and work in factory, mine, or even gangs, but have never seen their lord, or even the light of an open sky. Any who live in the district can be called upon by a Shogun to serve. Many are forced to serve; all who are will never return home. For many however this is still seen as an honour, drilled into every aspect of their worlds society and many in the rank and file hope to earn their place in the Samurate for displaying their prowess. Due to the brutal and savage nature of the wars they fight however, only the best or luckiest do indeed survivie, for very few forms of war are as violent and bloody as city fighting.

The society of Takeda while violent in nature, has its civilized sides but the many clans continue to fight each other, either in open war or in the planetary politics, for dominance of a city or the planet. The planetary governorship falls to the greatest family. For the last 100 years this has been the Tokugawatan clan and while there are many rivals, few can truly best this clan for dominance as they have solidified their reign as the mightiest clan and claim the title of Grand Shogunate Alpha.

The equipment the Street Devils use is effective and brutal. All Soldiers are outfitted with heavy flak or void armor, and all are accustomed to the use of ballistic shields, understanding the importance of protection in the close confines of a building or street. The warriors of the 88th prefer flashbangs as the grenade of choice for hand grenades and show effective use of fragmentation grenades when using underslung grenade launchers to assault heavily fortified buildings. The use of the underslung grenade launcher and of breaching a room with flash bang is seen as an art in the Takedian society. For weapons the Soldiers of the 88th prefer sub-auto rifles. Short barreled and usually fitted with a foregrip and drum magazines, these weapons prove to have a strong punch in close quarters, though lack any real accuracy at longer ranged, designed for a 'spray-and-pray' mentality, while the Samurate and Shogunates are known to instead use powerful laslocks, their greater levels of skill making the single shot weapons a blessing, rather than a liability. In close quarters, while the power katana is a good show of status, is not always useful in the confines of the city so many warriors prefer punch daggers and power daggers or shock gauntlets. Shock gauntlets are a variation of old earth brass knuckles that are outfitted with spiked knuckles and shock outputs that can generate high enough voltage to kill most men on contact and stun larger xenos foes. For heavier work, heavy flamers are favored and the Anti-Tank missile launchers produced on Takeda, for any enemy foolish enough to bring tanks into the streets.

One of the most renowned actions of the 88th Street devils comes from an incident with a highly mechanized human populace that refused to give way to the Imperial Truth. The human forces and even Astartes forces were having difficulty fighting this population as its vehicles and tanks were outfitted for the harsh open terrain and were more advance and faster than anything the Imperium could bring to bear. The sub-sector was not far from Takeda, relatively speaking and more forces were needed for the fight. So the street devils were called in to help secure the cities. The major world in the subsector and this human empire was mostly flat plains, minus their robust cities that were designed to allow for the mechanized warfare the local populace favored. The 88th was called in from the Tokugawatan and Minamotut clans to assist in the fight for the major cities. Upon arriving to the sub-sector it was shown that the rebellious human forces, known as the Germect Empire, were operating out of their capital city. It was a superstructure, with deep underground habitats and manufactorums, the city was even built in such away that the enemy vehicles could traverse the streets and sky-ways that connected the taller buildings and even go into the city structures themselves. It was a nightmare to most. With zeal and gusto, the 88th went to work, but their tactics were not initially approved by the allied regiments. Bombers and fighters were ordered to hit many streets and buildings not vital to the planets production capabilities. This brought down rubble and made deep craters in any ferrocrete street or passage. At first this was seen as reckless, but it halted the Germect in their tracks making mounted warfare slow at best and impossible in many sectors of the city. Their mobility was decimated, which at this point had been the Germect’s biggest advantage. The 88th were ready after the bombings and began their siege. They met the Germect infantry in the streets and in the narrow underground corridors where an astartes couldn’t fit. They fought where others couldn’t and were others wouldn’t. They hit mechanized colums first in expertly laid ambushes. They used the lower and higher floors, rather than advancing at street level, where enemy vehicles’ weapon systems couldn’t traverse and where armor was weakest. In small five to ten-man teams, later referred to as Rat packs, the 88th broke down armor column after armor column the earlier bombings creating perfect traps that would stop or delay enemy armor. Deadly ambushes wrecking vehicles, well-placed snipers picking apart command structures and incendiary devices and punishing automatic fire drove up casualty numbers. The fighting and methods were violent but effective. Soon the Germect had to meet the Takedians in the buildings and corridors of the vast city. Here the warriors once again shined. They fought room to room, street to street in combat that would seem dismal to many human forces. It quickly broke the Germect morale to fight in such harsh conditions, the sewers becoming the worst of it. The 88th saw it as a great honor and would not relent in their assault on this city. Each room a battle of heroes, each building a war of legends. They would not cease for honor would not allow it. The street devil tactics and gear, best suited for this fighting, broke the Germect in months where it had taken well over a year prior for other Imperial forces to take even an inch of ground. The 88th’s efforts were forever imprinted on the history of man and the crusade was only just beginning.

Since then, the 88th have been known to fight alongside many of the Emperor's own legions, both the Blight Wardens of the IInd and the Star Guardians of the IVth valuing their service, though never as much as their own auxilia. It is unsurprising that the brutal regiment caught the eyes of two of the more brutal, attritional regiments of the Imperium, the Street Devils enjoying fighting alongside the Astartes, their list of victories only growing when they do.