Carion 1st Armored

### **Active**

1st Division is currently locked in combat against an invasion threatening their homeworld, while 2nd Division is scattered around the sub-sector surrounding Macraage.

### **Strength**

1,000,000 active serving troops and staff

## Other information

### **Specialty**

Breakthrough Operations, Offensive Actions, Flexible Defense

### **Heavy Weapons**

Plenty of tank companies supported by mechanized infantry, elite and veteran teams, mobile artillery and strike craft.

### **Special Weapons**

Two Incinerator-Type Leman Russ Main Battle Tanks, the Knights of House Equites Honoribitar, a single Castigator-Class Titan

## Commanders

### **Acting**

Major General Aria D. Samson, acting in place of Commander in Chief Georgi Magos

### **Notable Commanders**

Lord Commisar Marnius Gray, Captain Drey Fives

The **Carion 1st Armored**, now the Carion Armored Battle Group, was previously a standalone armored breakthrough regiment of the Astra Militarium, but is now a collection of eighteen regiments forming an army group. In their short serving history so far, they have had a tumultuous and tormented service that has left half of their fighting force scattered, and the other locked in a struggle for survival against an old enemy.

The Frost Devils are most widely known for their incredibly advanced weaponry and technology, and being among the few that values each individual soldier as a competent fighting force rather than shoving masses of infantry into the fray. All guardsman are equipped quite well and trained to perform a wide array of tasks with an emphasis on efficiency.

## History and Homeworld

Their story begins back in the 37th Millennium. Already largely cut off from the rest of the Imperium and left to their own devices, they were largely untouched by what is now known as the Horus Heresy. Positioned way on the South-Eastern fringe of the Galaxy, Carion is a rather secluded system. As such, Carion society worked much differently than typical Imperial wartime standards.

The Carion System has two main colonized planets. These are one of the moons and its respective moonlet of Carion II, an Ice Giant that orbits a White Dwarf Star, which in turn orbits a colossal Blue Super-Massive Star. The name of this moon is Carion IIb, and the moonlet loving coined "Gloria." The bulk of Carions live on Carion IIb, though the small ice moon is far from a paradise capable of supporting billions.

The moon has a rather thick atmosphere despite its size, creating an uncomfortably high air pressure. Hurricane-like thunderstorms and blizzards similar to Martian dust storms blast the moon's surface, forcing most settlements to be built beneath the ground. One particular storm raging close to the south pole has been going for more than 10,000 years, earning it the nickname of Hell's Cyclone.

Because of these inhospitable conditions, Carion society has had to adapt. Huge subterranean cities supporting millions sit hundreds of miles beneath the surface. Small villages are built inside of mountains and into the side of impact craters to protect from the weather. To keep all these settlements connected, a wide array of mag-lev tram systems have been created, bridging the gap between cities. Electricity is provided by cold-fusion hydrogen reactors, since sources like fossil fuels are non-existent due to lack of flora or fauna, and coal is rare because of low internal compression in the moon. Fights over fuel sources and even more so over water were common before Carion's rediscovery.

Living on Carion IIb's moonlet Gloria was similar, but different in a number of ways. Settlements were still mostly built beneath the surface, but outposts above these settlements were common, and often served as access to orbital platforms and trade hubs with Carion IIb. Power is achieved through harvesting natural Helium 3 deposits created through solar winds hitting the moonlet's barren terrain.

### Important Settlements

This is a list of settlements on Carion IIb and Gloria that are important to remember for the upcoming description of more of Carion's history.

* **Shora**; Shora is a subterranean city on Carion IIb, and on the smaller side of both size and power compared to her sister city-states. Despite this, it sports a prosperous mining industry and a military presence not to be underestimated. It was also an important haven for refugees in the Carion War of Independence from the Tau Empire.

* **The Knight Enclave**; This settlement was the enclave of the moon's last surviving members of the Knights Talon, a Knight Household that sprang up to defend the system during the Age of Strife. They were treated with honor and reverence among the city-states, and respected as an independent sovereign. The knights would end up being annihilated in a final stand attempting to defend Malco's Gorge in the moon's Northern Hemisphere, saving the lives of thousands trying to seek safety inside the gorge that were trying to enter via the surface.

* **Conacra**; Conacra was one of the larger city-states on Carion IIb, and one of the few able to support trade with Gloria. Before the Carion War of Independance, Conacra was embroiled in a civil war against anarchist rebels attempting to overthrow the shaky monarchy. The two sides united when a Tau contingent ravaged the upper levels of the city, and threw back their forces before being annihilated by a Tau orbital weapons platform.

* **Kon**; Kon was a small trading village built inside of Mt. Corinthin near Malco's Gorge. They were the first to receive destress signals from Gloria about an invasion, and barely managed to get out the message before coming under siege and being razed to the ground. This message was largely ignored until multiple other surface settlements were destroyed.

### The Eternal War

Carion IIb is a relatively small planet with limited access to space, which limits the amount of interplanetary trade its residents could support. As such, conflicts between states were very common during this time, and usually have little reason to happen beyond territory or resource control, or simply a show of force. These wars are referred to as The Eternal War.

Despite the lack of reasoning, wars between cities turned bloody and grueling quite quickly. Armored vehicles were crucial for street-to-street fighting and for providing cover for the infantry during highway skirmishes. Infantry also had to be multi purpose, with city and tunnel fighting demanding a high amount of flexibility. Every state had their own strategies and tactics, but they all mostly revolved around having competent tank companies and hardy troops.

Not all wars were between two states. In the large city of Conacra, their weak monarchy was descending into an age of stagnation. Corruption hampered progress on reform, and created deep power struggles within the government. A tired populace turned into an extreme anarchist militia, and the firestorm of war swept across the city. It was only when a third party came to conquer when the two sides settled their quarrel and united against the invaders.

### The Invasion

At 0800 Standard Terran Hours, 738.M41, an electromagnetic communication facility in the village of Kon picked up a signal from Gloria. The signal was wrought with static, and any words were drowned out by constant gibberish in the background. The team of technicians, however, were determined to decipher the message, and through sheer force of will managed to clean up the transmission enough to be understood.

What was heard was far from pleasing. It was a distress signal from an unidentified settlement on Gloria, and it laid out harrowing details of a massive assault from orbit, with a perceived goal of seizing resource production and crippling military strongholds.

This message was given to the Acting Commander of the Kon militia, General Samuel Drask. Drask ordered the signal sent out to every possible state on IIb, and attach a packet of data from a nearby meteor watch station that had picked up many signals in Gloria's orbit on deep-space radar.

Only a few hours after this message was sent out, Kon came under attack by the invaders, identified as Tau. They had tracked the same signal to where it was received, and after another few hours had slaughtered the militia and razed the village.

The message sent out before the attack was largely ignored by Kon's neighbors until Kon itself and several other states came under attack or were annihilates. The states quickly got together and after a while of deliberation, the newly formed Carion Confederacy unilaterally declared war.

### The Carion War of Independence

The war was going far from smoothly at the initial outbreak. The tactics the states used against one another didn't fair well against the Tau's method of highly-mobile warfare. Their shields typically overmatched many of the Carion's kinetic weaponry, and it wasn't much help that the loose confederacy couldn't decide on an effective strategy.

This changed during one famous surface battle; The Battle of Yore's Crater.

Surface combat is incredibly dangerous on IIb. As described before, air pressure is very high on the surface, making it nearly impossible to traverse the surface without a special suit. On top of that, constant thunderstorms, blizzards, and the average temperature of -90 degrees Fahrenheit makes going out in just a suit impossible and some sort of vehicle mandatory. As such, the few nomads and many traders that traverse the frozen wastes on a daily basis do so in large rovers called baserunners. These can support themselves by mining and creating fuel, ore, and supplies on their own for extended periods of time.

These vehicles came into play during the battle, and displayed an incredibly important fact to the wider confederacy.

On that day at 1100 hours, a group of nomads were escorting a group of civilians to Malco's Gorge, where they would find shelter from the worst of the war. Contact was declared by Davey Loro, the nomad watching the rear of the formation. A group of Tau hover tanks had spotted the column and was in pursuit.

An hour of chasing went by, with the nomad escorts firing pot-shots and one devilfish tank from the Tau force firing back. Eventually, the nomads decided to end the chase and sent the formation ahead with two of their own whilst taking up ambush positions behind a rock formation. The Tau tanks stumbled straight into the trap, and the nomads let loose. The initial volley of fire was relatively ineffective until Davey opened up with his plasma cannon, stripping a devilfish of its shield and leaving a scotching hole in its right flank. The anti-grav repulsors failed and the tank collapsed, disabled and out of power.

Realizing that plasma was the weakness, Davey ran circles around the hostile vehicles in his smaller rover, taking each down with well-placed plasma shots. The fight was over before 1300.

### New Strategies

With the weakness to plasma made known to the Carion military, new tactics were created. Small contingents of infantry or vehicles equipped with plasma weaponry would be sent beyond friendly lines to interdict approaching hostiles and take down as many hover tanks and crisis suits as possible. They would then retreat before the enemy could mount an effective counterattack. This tactic worked immensely well in the confines of the tunnels.

Other tactics included overloading shields with directed-energy weapons and following up with Minotaur man-portable anti-tank cannons, or just pounding the hell out of something until it dies (typical nomad approach to things).

### The Battle of Station 13

Around a year and a half into the war, things had ground to a standstill. Neither side could make significant gains on the other, and actual battles were rare. Even when a skirmish broke out, it was fleeting and amounted to little.

But on one fateful day, 739.M41, the Confederate Council received a reliable and detailed report on an incredibly worrying event.

The Tau had created a weapon from the resources seized and produced on Gloria, and it was discovered by a meteor watch station when Gloria suddenly turned into several pieces on radar. This was a test fire of the weapon, and it tore the glorified asteroid to shreds.

Captured intelligence indicated the weapon was to be used on one of the large cities, though which could not be determined.

If that weapon was allowed to fire, it would mean the immediate defeat of the Confederacy. If they shot once, they would do so again. The only problem was all access to space was cut off by the Tau fleet, and any attempt to build a weapon or ship would likely be found and dealt with post haste.

So the task of taking out the weapon was given to Lieutenant Drey Fives, and he hatched a rather audacious plan.

The operation would start at 0500 the next day. A Tau supply vessel was scheduled to make drop at a supply depot at 0540 and has to return to orbit by 0640. Fives and a team of his choosing will steal uniforms from human conscripts stationed at the depot the ship will be landing at. Using these, they will get as close to the ship as possible before either taking the direct route on (i.e. just straight up walking on), or finding another means. Stealth was mandatory.

Fives decided on four veterans from his company; Corporal Tim Forbs, Sergeant Micheal Perry, Specialist Anna Hio, and Specialist Jesse James.

The five were allocated a baserunner to get to the target area, which was positioned inside the eastern cliff of a crater, and various equipment to aid them including active cloaking devices salvaged and reverse-engineered from Tau tech.

There was little issue en-route, besides a small detour to evade a thunderstorm and a stop to procure fuel. Fives was in place with his team by 0432 the next morning and were readying for the mission.

At 0450 infiltration of the depot was successful and uniforms were stolen off a patrol of conscripts. They were dispatched and the bodies were hidden in a shipping container. They took up the patrol as a guise to keep off suspicion.

At 0540, right on schedule, the supply ship landed on a marked pad outside of the depot. By 0542 the team had made it to the pad and were offloading supplies as another guise. Gaining access to the ship was simple enough since they had to go into it to grab the supplies, but staying on undetected until it lifts off was the challenge.

It was nearing 0640 and Fives still had no solution to his dilemma. To add things on, word was going around some conscripts were missing, and the overseer of the depot ordered a headcount. All the humans, including Fives and his team, were rounded up and lined up in three rows. It was soon known by the then lieutenant that an officer was to go down each line ask for names, serial numbers, and other identification info. This was a problem for obvious reasons.

Luckily, the clever leader had a contingency plan. A bomb had been planted by Specialist Hio in a shipping container near the main door of the depot, and in case of emergency Hio would detonate it to draw attention away from the team. It was incredibly risky, since it put the whole base on alert and on watch for suspicious activity, but beggars can't be choosers as the saying goes.

The bomb was set off 10 minutes into the roll call, and havoc swept the base. The team used the confusion to disappear in the crowd with their active cloaks and make a break for the ship. Time was short. The ship would be hightailing it away from the base in no time.

The ship was easy enough to access. With a combination of the cloaks and Tau leadership in the depot struggling to reign control of their conscript garrison, reaching the landing pad couldn't have gone smoother. The issue, yet again, was getting on the ship. It had several guards on the ramp, guns at the ready. On top of that, drones were zooming about and scanning for hostiles. No telling what one would see, and there was little hard data on what Tau drone sensors could detect available at the time. So Fives decided to wing it, stepping onto the loading ramp with as much caution as he could muster. The rest followed suit, and after a painstaking minute of rushed sneaking they had managed to settle themselves in the loading bay. In due time they did, because the ship soon lifted and was underway at 0638.

By now news had reached Carion regional command that the team was onboard and underway. This was the signal for the next phase of the operation. A huge dummy assault took place at a tram station near Shora under the name Station 13, and although it was meant as a cover for the lieutenant and his team, the battle ended up becoming a stunning strategic and tactical victory.

At 0640 in the dot, a volley of plasma fire from previously hidden locations in the tram tunnel collided with the Tau emplacements, stripping apart most of their firing line and putting them in disarray. Confederate drones engineered from stolen tech were then sent down the tunnel, routing the remaining fire warriors. Storm troopers equipped with directed-energy weapons poured in through the gap, slicing apart the ill-prepared second line of defense and beginning their attack on the station proper. Word had made it down the Tau lines by then, and reinforcements had already made it to the station, but they had little time to take up positions before bullets and lasers tore into them. However, fighting soon ground to a slugging match, with both sides making small gains on one another in a slow game of attack, repulse, counterattack.

But that was soon to change. A particularly crafty engineer from behind Confederate lines had a bright idea; Load one of the tram cars from back here with explosives and charge it a max speed into hostile lines. It wasn't the most complicated of designs, but command let it got through, and the tram was en route by 0700.

By then things had developed for Fives and his team. They had reached orbit, but now came the challenge of getting onto the weapon. The main idea was to steal and some short of vessel to transport them their, but someone would figure put two and two together eventually when a strike craft leaves the hangar without clearance. So Fives thought it was about time to throw another wrench into the works.

The supply ship docked with what was later identified as an orbital platform set up in orbit to consolidate supplies for transport to the surface. It was positioned somewhere near the rear of the main Tau invasion fleet, and the team had to make it to the center, where the orbital weapon was positioned.

So a plan was hatched, and it was even more daring and much more explosive than the last.

Hio had to put her expertise to use again. This time she had to plant an explosive in the station's reactor. Meanwhile, Specialist James and Lieutenant Fives would secure a spot at the escape pod containment bay. Corporal Forbs and Sergeant Perry would help Specialist Hio get into the reactor room. After the bomb was set, the three would make a mad dash to the escape pods and launch before blowing the reactor, creating enough of a distraction to affirm passage to the orbital weapon.

There were hundreds of things that could go wrong with this plan, but as displayed before Fives is a masochist.

By 0658 James, Perry, and Hio had made it through most of the station and were around a hallway away from the reactor room, and at 0700 Fives and Forbs had established a position at one of the escape pods. Unfortunately, this is where the problems began. Since the reactor is obviously one of the most critical parts of any spacefaring vessel or orbital platform, it was heavily guarded with strict security. An entire checkpoint complete with blast-door airlock, sensors, and armed guards help up the way into the reactor room. The reactor itself was heavily monitored an patrolled. It would take some serious conniving to talk their way in, and likely impossible to stealth past it with active cloak. They needed an alternative entrance or a very clever excuse, and the latter was looking quite far off the table.

Back down beneath the moon, the explosive tram had slammed into the Tau defenses and blown a wide gap in the line. This was quickly exploited by Carion infantry, splitting the defenders up between the station control center and the maintenance tunnels. With the fire warriors encircled and their morale all but gone, the Carions left a force to clean up the survivors while they pushed on to the tram maintenance warehouse.

Up in orbit, Perry had discovered a rather unorthodox method of getting the bomb planted. Drone hatches were placed at four spots around the room close to the ceiling to allow maintenance drones to a perform tasks in the room without risking personnel. The idea was to give a drone the bomb and fly it into the room, then without drawing attention plant it somewhere out of sight. If that failed, one lucky bastard was going to have to take one of the spare satchels and crawl in through the drone hatch, find a way to not fall to their doom, plant the bomb and get out. The getting out part of the contingency plan was, whether the three liked it or not, optional.

At the escape pods, the lieutenant and corporal were waiting for the trio way above to finish when suddenly Forbs decloaked. His cloaking device had shorted out and failed due to an unknown issue. And to rub salt in the wound, a patrol had just entered the room when the his presence was made known. Acting on wit alone, the duo sprung on the two 'man' patrol and quickly dispatched them. There was no place to hide the bodies, so they had to down any other patrols or unlucky staff that walked in.

James and Hio had made it to the drone control room on the west side of the station while Fives was having his conflict and successfully infiltrated. For a reason unbeknownst to the two, guards were rather lackluster. There was only one at the end of the room and two controllers sat in front of what was assumed to be the control stations for the drones. The guard was quickly killed and the controllers incapacitated. Now came the tricky part; How in the hell did they pilot the drones? Forbs was an engineer, so he offered a try, and by 0714 had figured out roughly how to move a drone around. By then Hio had snuck into the drone hangar and was attempting to figure out which drone Forbs had control over. A bit of investigating later, the bomb was attached and the drone was moving out.

Below, Confederate forces had reached the warehouse and were struggling to establish a foothold inside. Resistance was staunch and stubborn, and progress was slowed yet again. At 0722 a foothold was secured in the maintenance room, but a counterattack by hostile forces in the tunnel forced a retreat. An outstanding victory had still be achieved by an understrength brigade, and an important boost to morale grew like a wave over the troops.

At the same time, the drone was successfully piloted by James into the reactor room and the bomb was planted. Unfortunately before it was planted, Hio was discovered after her cloak had failed, and she took a hit to the shoulder trying to escape. Perry snatched her out of the drone hangar and raced for the pods with Forbs in tow.

The situation downstairs was also deteriorating. A firefight had broken out between a wandering patrol and the two soldiers. By the time the trio made it to the pods, Fives and Forbs had retreated two rooms. Fortunately enough, they had access to a pod, and after forcing the computer lock and piling in, they blasted away from the station. Another stroke of luck; The pod was already pointed towards the direction they needed to go. They just had to detonate the bomb and gun the engines.

That was where the luck had run out. The bomb was refusing to detonate. Weapons on Tau ships were turning, calls asking for explanation of the pod's launch were tumbling one after the other out of the radio in an incessant buzz. Fives, who was given the detonator off of Hio, flicked the switch again and again but no dice. It was over. Mission failed. They were going to die up here, in the heart of the enemy fleet.

Then a humongous shockwave rocked the pod. The bomb went off! Perry gunned the engine in time to evade the humongous explosion radiating out from behind them. By 0729 they had rammed into the orbital weapon and were racing to find the control room. They had no time to spare. The jig was up, and yelling over the intercom told the lieutenant that the commander aboard the platform had ordered an emergency firing of the weapon. The charging laser whirred through the hallways as the team finally found the correct room. They kicked in the door and the first bullets left their guns, but they were too late. The laser blasted out of the huge barrel stretching out of the bottom of the station, cutting through the atmosphere of Carion IIb and slicing deep into the surface, nailing the reactor of the city of Conancra and setting off a cataclysmic explosion that annihilated the city. The war was over, and the Carions had lost.

### Tau Rule

Now began the long period of the Tau Empire's oppressive reign over the Carion system, starting on 741.M41 after the capitulation of the last stronghold of resistance at Shora, and ending in 974.M41 after an imperial contingent launched a crusade on the system and freed the suffering Carions.

At the start of the Empire's rule, they held control of the moon through military occupation. There was still deliberation on what to do with the planet, and their new subjects were less than pleased with the new leadership. A series of campaigns were launched in response to the unrest, rounding up rebels and their sympathizers and imprisoning them in black sites scattered around the moon. Rebellions happened in spite of these campaigns, and there were few villages and even fewer cities that were relatively calm.

At the start of 803.M41, after years of neglecting the issue of what to do with the newly acquired territory, the Empire had finally decided to use it as a lynchpin to expand their sphere of influence, sending ships packed with eager Tau colonists to the moon to overwhelm the disgruntled population with their traditions and beliefs. This was an attempt to slowly undermine ancient Carion way of life and suppress their religion. This was never considered a success, as most Carions continued to practice their beliefs in secrecy despite continued introductions of laws against it.

In 809.M41, impatience with the lack of progress the governing body on Carion IIb had achieved in indoctrinating the population boiled over, and the governor was sacked. A new one was put in place, and this one had a more direct approach to enforcing Tau beliefs. Citizens were rounded up by the hundreds and sent off to camps under the guise of being arrested for crimes that weren't actually committed. They were then forced to listen to constant streams of propaganda and had to practice Tau tradition or risk severe punishment, which included neutering and even execution. But again, progress was limited, and forbidden traditions were still carried out in secret.

And then the Carions finally received their lucky break. In the year 973.M41, an imperial contingent of Salamanders Chapter Astartes entered the system on their crusade to find artifacts. They discovered the Tau presence in the system and, having a lack of strength, decided to disengage. An inquisitorial element was brought in by the news, and agents were sent in to dig up information on what kind of defensive force was present. They discovered the horrific conditions the Carions were put under, and soon word of what was going on was received by the chapter master of the Salamanders Chapter. Appalled by the news, a force of combined Astartes and Astra Militarium units was compiled and a crusade was launched. The first battle began in 974.M41, and control of the Carion system was gained in less than a year. Widespread rebellions across all settlements helped the imperial strike force drastically, and the day the war ended is revered so heavily to this day that the Carions created a major holiday.

### The Regiment is Formed

Despite the Tau's attempts to erase it, detailed records of the Carion War of Independence were kept by the Carion people to preserve their past. High ranking members of the Astra Militarium were deeply impressed by the reports, and thought that the creation of a few regiments was an incredibly good idea. Three regiments were requested by the Militarium, but the provisional government set up as a temporary stand-in was incapable of providing. As a compromise, they promised to procure a single regiment, but offered to produce all of their own gear, weapons, and other things. This was a deal nobody in the imperium had seen before, for it would mean one of the first times, if not the first time in current history a regiment was supplied by its own private benefactors over the Adeptus Ministorum. As an experiment, the Militarium agreed with permission from the High Lords of Terra on one condition; certain vehicles had to be either based on the chassis of imperial vehicles or the vehicles had to be imperial entirely. After a month of discussion, the Carions agreed and the project was begun.

Infantry was collected through drafts, though many volunteered on their own. Vehicles were produced in newly-built factories all over the moon, which also served to jumpstart the economy. Training sites were set up in old military strongholds from the war of independence and new ones created to replace those destroyed. During training, tank crews were so smitten with the versatility and reliability of the Leman Russ tank that they willingly accepted the idea of creating a modernized variant with the special Carion touch. Finally, in 979.M41 the Carion 1st Armored was officially certified as a regiment of the Imperial Guard, and was stationed on its homeworld to await deployment orders.

## Notable Campaigns

### The Defense of Gaia III (980.M41)

A year after its formation, the regiment received its first deployment orders. Since a lot of their ships were still using hyperlane drives and hadn't been upgraded with warp drives, they were given a task closer to home. Two systems away was the Gaia system, and it was besieged by a contingent of traitor astartes. The small group of a transport and two escorts arrived within a week.

The regiment was to land on the world of Gaia III after grouping up with the already present imperial fleet to bolster the frontline and gather for a large-scale offensive. The ships were performing orbital maneuvers when a transmission came in. It was from a mechanicus exploration vessel, and they found what they believed to be a dark age vault hidden in Gaia III's sprawling forest. They wished for protection as they investigated the vault and seized whatever lied within to deny the ruinous forces the technology. They implored that it was urgent, and skitarii forces could not be brought in in time.

Then regimental commander Georgi Magos agreed after sending word to local high command, and they followed the techpriests down to the heavily wooded surface. The vault was reached within the hour and a defensive formation was achieved shortly after. This was a style of combat the Carions were ill prepared and trained for, and it would show once contact broke out on the eastern edge of the line.

At 1100 hours a column of rhino transports and predator tanks was sighted carving a path through the trees by forward scouts. However, when they tried to radio in a report, they found the enormous trees were blocking radio communication. They would have to get higher up.

After several attempts and one member of the team almost killed in a fall, they managed to get the radioman up a tree and radioed in barely in time. The defenses were roused just when the hostile formation collided with the guardsman.

The fight was going poorly from the start. The hostile marines were found to be Word Bearers seeking the vault's knowledge, and the might of the astartes was soon beheld by the woefully unprepared first line. The Carions had never seen a space marine before, and were never briefed on their capabilities. At 1130 hours the first line broke and routed.

The second line was more capable, containing a larger number of tanks than the first. As the traitor marines rapidly closed the distance, two executioner-variants opened up with their plasma cannons, tearing up a sizeable portion of the marines. All underestimation of the guardsman was quickly disposed of, and bolter and lascannon fire came in return. Minotaur cannon teams took down marines with semi-ease as the tanks dealt with advancing armor. By 1210 fighting had ground to a stalemate, and the first wave of heretics was weathered.

At the vault, the cult members managed to open the huge blast door sealing it, and a group of two fireteams and a tank with a searchlight were sent in with them. The vault was confirmed to be from the dark age, as its age was evident after the group stepped in. It wasn't long after they reached the second blast door that the bunker's defenses woke up. Fortunately enough, two of the four turrets failed to activate, and the live two were dispatched with ease. Unfortunately, the defense grid had sealed the door. It was going to take time for the priests to open it.

On the surface, things were slowly starting to deteriorate. The Word Bearers were gaining ground, and daemons had come to join them. Recently promoted Captain Fives had his hands full making sure the tanks had the ammunition to continue fighting and organizing effective counters to hostile advances. Losses were mounting from sustained bolter fire and warp magic attacks. Something had to be done fast. In a desperate attempt to hail support, Fives took a radioman and two volunteers to scale the huge vault to reach its comms array and call for reinforcement.

Beneath the surface, the team of priests and their escorts were making progress. Despite the defense grid's attempts to stall the group, the actual vault in the center of the bunker was reached in a relatively short amount of time. The door, same as the main doors, was sealed tightly shut. It would again take a while to get it open, spending time that wasn't exactly on their side.

As this was being done, Fives and his small team of volunteers made it to the comms dish by 1300. The radioman and two others set to work trying to find a way to hook up the radio to the dish while Fives coordinated the defenses from his new high ground.

Things had turned evermore dire while he was making his climb. The left flank was all but broken, held by but a tiny bastion comprising a single Carion-pattern Leman Russ and two teams of pioneers attempting to fortify their position while returning fire. The right wasn't faring better; the Carion-pattern still remaining had to pull back into a shell crater and was rapidly running out of ammunition. A handful of infantry sat with it, though they managed to drag over a heavy bolter to strengthen their position. The center was by far the worst off. One of the executioners overheated its plasma cannon for too long, causing it to melt an explode. The other was pinned behind a makeshift pillbox. There were more infantry their than the flanks, but they were scattered and forced to hunker down under the hail of fire.

Back in the vault, the defense grid had a few more tricks up its sleeve. It had activated automatons armed wit a myriad of dark age weapons to crush the intruders while they were pinned against the door. The Carions were caught by surprise, but were already in a defensive formation. The firefight lasted for an hour, the escorts losing a good four troops with five others wounded before the cult members managed to get the door open. The group stumbled into the vault and shut the door behind them.

## Regimental Organization

The Carion Armored Battle Group contains 18 regiments/battalions of tanks, mechanized infantry, artillery, and others. These units are organized into two divisions, the aptly named 1st and 2nd Divisions.

1st Division contains the bulk of the army group. The regiments it contains are as follows;

**Armored Regiments**:

Carion 1st Armored Regiment (The Frost Devils)

Carion 22nd Armored Regiment

422nd Cadian Armored Regiment

**Mechanized Regiments**:

Carion 12th Volunteer Mechanized Guard Regiment (former PDF unit)

Carion 3rd Mechanized Regiment

**Artillery**:

10th Cadian Mobile Artillery Regiment

124th Armageddon Steel Legion Mobile Artillery Battery (detachment from the 498th Armageddon Steel Legion)

**Engineer Battalions**:

Carion 2nd Pioneers Battalion

1st Division is currently declared missing in action, and the whereabouts of the ones not found remains a mystery.

2nd Division contains more specialized units. The regiments it contains are as follows;

**Armored Regiments**:

Carion 29th Armored Regiment

298th Cadian Armored Regiment

Carion 33rd Armored Regiment (The Ghouls)

**Mechanized Regiments**:

498th Armageddon Steel Legion

Carion 76th Mechanized

**Artillery**:

Carion 3rd Mobile Artillery Regiment

**Engineer Battalions**:

Carion 4th Pioneers Battalion

**Other Units**:
XO Experimental Weapons Battalion

The specifics on the XO Experimental Weapons Battalion are classified per inquisitorial order.

Cadian units in both divisions were recovered after the destruction of Cadia, and the single Armageddon Regiment was lopped in with the Cadians and Carions at the formation of the army group.

Along with the divisions is the forces of the Carion Personal Defense Force Army Aviation (CPDFAA). They are organized into two flights; The 62nd Strike Wing and the 45th Fighter Wing.

Other units include the Cadian XXXVI Signal Corp and the Pioneers Command Brigade.

### Officer Ranks

**Warrant Officer 1**: Perform duties as a leader, trainer, operator, manager, maintainer, sustainer, and advisor. W01 Pay Grade

**Chief Warrant Officer 2**: Commissioned officers. Technical and tactical experts who operate at detachment through battalion levels. CW2 Pay Grade

**Chief Warrant Officer 3:** Provide direction, guidance, resources, assistance, and supervision for subordinates. Operate on support operation levels from team or detachment through brigade.

**Chief Warrant Officer 4**: Senior-level experts in their field. Primarily in support battalions, brigades, divisions, one of the two corps, and the echelons of major command beyond the corps level. CW4 Pay Grade

**Chief Warrant Officer 5**: Master-level experts that support brigade, division, corps, and major command operations. CW5 Pay Grade

**Second Lieutenant**: Entry-level rank for most commissioned officers. Leads platoon-sized elements. O-1 Pay Grade

**First Lieutenant**: Seasoned lieutenant with at least 18 months of service. Leads specialist weapons platoons and indirect fire computation centers. O-2 Pay Grade

**Captain**: Commands and controls company-sized units. Capable of being a staff officer at battalion level. O-3 Pay Grade

**Major**: Primary staff officer for brigade and task force command. 0-4 Pay Grade

**Lieutenant Colonel**: Commands battalion-sized units. O-5 Pay Grade

**Colonel**: Commands brigade-sized units. O-6 Pay Grade

**Brigadier General**: Deputy commander to commanding general of a division. O-7 Pay Grade

**Major General**: Commands division-sized units. O-8 Pay Grade

**Lieutenant General**: Commands one of the two corps. O-9 Pay Grade

**General**: Senior level commissioned officer. O-10 Pay Grade

**Commander in Chief**: Also known as army group commander. Specialized Pay Grade

### Specialist Ranks

Specialist ranks are fairly limited in the Carion 1st. Aside from the specialist rank in line ranking, the only specialist ranks used are for the commissariat, but they are not technically part of the regiment.

### Non-Commissioned Officer Ranks

**Master Sergeant**: Principal NCO at the battalion level or higher. E-8 Pay Grade

**First Sergeant**: Senior NCO in companies, batteries and troops. Provides counsel and disciplinary action. E-8 Pay Grade

**Sergeant Major**: Expert in their field. Primary advisor on policy development and reviewer of regulatory guidance. E-9 Pay Grade

**Command Sergeant Major**: Senior NCO of command at battalion or higher levels. Recommends supplies to commander and staff, and carries out their policies. Oversees training programs. E-9 Pay Grade

**Sergeant Major of the Army**: Only one in the entire army group. Oversees the NCOs and as the senior enlisted advisor to the acting commander. E-9 Pay Grade

### Line Ranks

**Private**: First rank after initiate. E-1 Pay Grade

**Private 2nd Class**: E-2 Pay Grade

**Private 1st Class**: First rank with command ability. E-3 Pay Grade

**Specialist**: Alternative to Corporal. Reserved for those who've displayed ability to lead and qualify to ascend to officer ranks. E-4 Pay Grade

**Corporal**: Ability to command. E-4 Pay Grade

**Sergeant**: Capable of leading fire teams and specialist teams. E-5 Pay Grade

**Staff Sergeant**: Allowed to command squads, but these are rare. Usually given drill duties or 2nd-in-command to platoon leads. E-6 Pay Grade

**Sergeant 1st Class**: Also typically 2iC for platoon leads. E-7 Pay Grade

## Equipment

### Weapons

The standard weapon for most Carion infantry is the Mb-12 7.62 x 51mm Autogun. It is entirely an indigenous design, with little influence from imperial weapon design if any at all. Heavy investment in modularity and reliability is present, with added features like a picatinny rail system, mounts for an underslung 40mm grenade launcher and sight, and even a bullet counter.

Autorifleman carry the Shrouder SH 66 Electrically-Ignited Squad Assault Weapon. This type of light machinegun uses the same cartridge as the Mb-12 for cheaper ammunition production. The electric ignition of the cartridges allows for better powders to be used at higher efficiency. The same ignition has the side effect of creating a blue hazy trail behind the bullet as it flies through the air, which creates its own set of ups and downs.

The Mamba 10 x 20mm handgun is the standard issue sidearm, and is made with as few moving parts as possible. Most weapons budget was invested in the Mb-12, SH 66, and other weapons so Mambas are designed to be made cheap. This does not detract from reliability, and has the upside of being easier to clean and requires less extra parts stockpiled for wear and tear.

Onto the more interesting of weapons, we have the AT 1 Single-Use Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher. This is carried for emergencies by Carion infantry when all other methods of anti-tank warfare aren't feasible. Even then, the weapon doesn't have the greatest penetrative power, and requires good aim to use effectively.

The more capable AT weapon of the two is the Minotaur Man-Operated Anti-Tank Cannon. This is fired from over the shoulder and requires a two-man team to operate with efficiency. It was first introduced during the Carion War of Independence as a stationary anti-tank gun, but was adapted with a shorter barrel and 5-round magazine to suit more mobile warfare. It is chambered in a 20 x 108mm shell and has a wide variety of ammunition types available, including High Explosive Incendiary (HE-I).

One of the more advanced weapons in the Carion arsenal is the Trace Directed Energy Weapon. It fires a continuous beam of nitrogen plasma controlled and accelerated down the barrel in a similar way to a railgun, minus the rail. It is highly valued among the troops for its ability to strip away cover and disable even vehicles, though they are produced in small numbers and are usually allocated to veteran tank units as a hull-mounted weapon.

### Standardized Equipment

All Carion infantry are equipped to fit to a five-man fireteam structure. I will go over each position in the squad accordingly.

There is one rifleman in Carion fireteams. A standard rifleman will carry the Mb-12 Autogun as their primary armament. It is rare that they receive a sidearm, but when applicable they will have a Mamba handgun.

Next on the list is the autorifleman, who carries the Shrouder Squad Assault Weapon. All autorifleman receive Mamba handguns.

The third slot is taken up by the medic, or their more technical term of Combat Life Saver. This one is pretty self explanatory. They come equipped with an Mb-12 and medical equipment.

The fourth member of the team is the team leader. Their name describes their role, really. Team leaders are issued an Mb-12 with an underslung 40mm grenade launcher attachment with accompanying smoke and explosive grenades. Smoke grenades include two blue for marking landing zones, two green for marking position, four red for marking targets for mortars or aircraft, and three white for smokescreens.

The final member is the team JTAC. They carry a long-range radio for communication over, well, long ranges and for calling in support from aircraft, artillery, mortars, etc. They come equipped with an Mb-12, but have less magazines than a standard rifleman

For armor, starting at the head is the standard infantry helm. This is considerably more advanced than the standard Cadian-style steel helm. It's made of an alloy containing a small amount of titanium, tungsten for weight saving, and is wrapped in a carbon-fiber and kevlar wrapping. This provides multiple degrees of protection for every sort of danger, including bullets, explosions, heat, and certain types of acid. The helmet also contains minor sensor equipment, noise suppression earphones with a port for attaching a short-range radio and microphone, and a flip-out display that can be put in front of one of the soldier's eyes and can display information as needed. There is also a self-contained variant of the helmet for unbreathable and high/low-pressure atmospheres.

Moving onto the neck and chest, each troop receives a chest plate made of the same alloy as the helmet. Neck armor depends on the environment and if the helmet is the self-contained variant or not. The self-contained helm requires a thick neck brace attachment to pressurize it. There is no neck protection for the standard helm. The chest plate comes with a tactical rig for storing magazines, grenades, and other things.

The shoulders are covered with two alloy pauldrons. On the left arm will have the emblem of the Carion 1st, along with other art and kill marks Carion infantry like to adorn their armor with. The right arm will have the Regimental, Company, and Platoon number in this order from the top to the bottom of the pauldron. The arms are covered by two-piece alloy bracers and vambraces, coming down to the hands which are covered by separate plates worn on fingerless gloves.

The legs are covered similarly to the arms, and don't have much of note. The armored boots are attached to the leg plates and sometimes are grafted with stubs or small spikes for more lethality in kicking.

Both the arms and legs are supported by endoskeletal servos intended to enhance strength and speed and mitigate the already low weight of the armor.

Standard kit for all infantry includes their service weapon (with ten magazines for the Mb-12, four 200-round box magazines for the Shrouder), their armor and tactical rig, a short-range radio and microphone for the helmet, grenades (depending on team role), a single-use rocket launcher (rifleman only), a mess kit, a service flap-cap with the emblem, rations for one month (stored in mess kit), medical supplies (morphine, epinephrine, bandages, gauze, tourniquets, splints), a canteen, a water purifier, a laser designator, a melee weapon of the soldier's choosing (within regulation), an entrenching tool, and a gps.

### Specialist Equipment

Veteran teams are generally the only specialists in Carion regiments, so they are equipped quite well. They are organized into the same 5-man teams as their rank and file brethren, but the composition of these teams is left up to the team leader.

Veterans are give powered armor as opposed to the simple electric servos the standard infantrymen receives, however it's not much different aside from being totally enclosed and with shoulder-mounted weaponry available. They can also carry heavier weapons including tri-barreled gatling weapons, Atlas Heavy Directed Energy Lasers, and larger plasma guns. Shoulder-mounted weapons include micro-rockets, laser cutters, and even simple volkite weapons.

## Vehicles

The following is a list with any accompanying descriptions or added information of each vehicle used by the Carion 1st Armored, and follows for all Carion armored regiments;

### Tanks

* Carion-Pattern Leman Russ Main Battle Tank: This is a heavy modification of the Mars-Pattern Leman Russ MBT, which adds a ton of new features. The 120mm smoothbore gun is replaced by a 152mm smoothbore swing-breech autoloaded cannon. To accommodate the autoloader, the turret is lengthened to have and an ammo storage that works with the autoloading mechanism is put inside. A shell ejection port is placed on the right side of the turret with an automatic hatch. With these modifications, the gunner can achieve an average fire rate of a round every 1.2734 seconds. The side sponsons are typically taken off, but veteran tank crews are allowed to request a model with sponsons. The unmanned turret due to the autoloader presents the issue of the commander not being able to see outside of the tank. Therefore, a small camera mounted in a 360 degree rotating module is mounted on the front-left of the top of the turret. However, this camera is often ignored in favor of a 13.2 x 57mm machinegun placed on the center right of the top of the turret in a fully-automated rotating mount. Other upgrades include reactive armor, Zimmerman Anti-Magnetic Mine Paint, and countless other optional additions.
* Annihilator-Variant Leman Russ Main Battle Tank: Procured from unidentified Imperial Guard regiment.
* Demolisher-Variant Leman Russ Main Battle Tank: Acquired from military surplus.
* Executioner-Variant Leman Russ Main Battle Tank: Provided by Ministorum, who had a rather large back up of refunded Executioners due to their less than popular view.

* Eradicator-Variant Leman Russ Main Battle Tank: Acquired from military surplus.

### Infantry Fighting Vehicles

* Chimera Armored Personnel Carrier: Acquired from military surplus.

* Chimerax Infantry Fighting Vehicle: Supplied by Ministorum from reserves.
* Chimmerro Mobile Anti-Tank Platform: Supplied by Ministorum out of regiment's request for a mobile AT platform.

* Hellhound Flamethrower Vehicle: Only three in the regiment and used by veterans.
* Salamander Armored Scout Vehicle: Acquired from military surplus.

### Artillery and Anti-Aircraft

* Conacra Self-Propelled gun: Named after the destroyed city from centuries ago, this indigenously-designed mobile artillery platform is entirely enclosed and uses a long-barreled 155mm artillery gun. It supports a crew of four and is similar in some respects to the Basilisk.
* Griffon Heavy Mortar Vehicle: Acquired from military surplus.
* Hydra Mobile Anti-Aircraft Platform: Acquired from military surplus.

### Utility, Support, and General Purpose Vehicles

* Ozark General Purpose Car: Another indigenous design, the Ozark General Purpose Car is an all-terrain vehicle designed to suit a wide variety of roles. It has hundreds of modifications, both manufactured and produced on the field, that have seen service. Some of these models include field ambulances, scout cars, patrol vehicles, MRAPs (Mine Proof Ambush Protected), mine clearers (mounted with a high-power laser to heat up and explode mines), stationary weapon tows, mortar carriages, and many more.
* Trojan Utility Vehicle: Supplied by Ministorum out of request for a heavy-duty tank recovery vehicle.
* Leman Russ Mine Flail: A modified variant of the Carion-Pattern Leman Russ that removes the hull-mounted weapon and sponsons and installs a mine flail. The heavy chains whip the ground, detonating mines and clearing the path for friendly tanks and infantry.

## Quotes

"*This is where the fun begins.*"
— Corporal Alfonse Dredos, pilot of "The Singing Angel" Valkyrie in 1st Squadron, 62nd Strike Wing.