Hello everyone, I serve with the infantry of the 362nd Regiment of the Death Korps. My number is 3-1-0-4-6-3-2-1-5, but since we are here, you can call me Hanz. I was born in a vitae womb in the 41st millennium. A really long time ago my homeworld used to be a thriving rich Hive World in the Segmentum Tempestus... but it has since become a Death World. It is called Krieg, aaand I guess I should give you some background information first. Well, apparently some "heretical council" of governing autocrat f*cks (that we are definitely not going to do the honor of calling by name here) were complaining about something like taxes, or something stupid along that line. They were so greedy and spineless that they chose to forsake their glorious duty to the Emperor so that they could get even richer. And of ALL the possible days, these stupid sh*ts chose to start their stupid rebellion on the day of the Emperor's Ascension! Do you believe that? Y'know, the exact day we celebrate the Emperor ascending to his Golden Throne? Yes! That one! And the inhabitants of Krieg brought eternal shame upon them when they betrayed the Emperor on his favorite day. Anyway, upon the whole of Krieg, in the city of Ferrograd, there was still one real hero with character left, and his glorious name was Jurten. As soon as he heard of the insurrection he just straight up shot his own traitorous governor in the face (what a badass). And then without even thinking twice, and with a righteous fury, he smashed the launch button to send a whole lot of nukes all over the planet of Krieg. Y'know, those forbidden illegal weapons? Yes, those! Well, that did teach those traitors not to mess around. Unfortunately, instead of being annihilated in the firestorm, many traitors had managed to flee into underground bunkers. Now it was on the remaining loyal Kriegsmen to finsh the job and rid Krieg of traitors. We had to dig them out with our bare hands! And, well, a few centuries of civil war later, we finally did it! We could finally announce our victory to the Imperium and were once again ready to do our duty. And you lnow what? The Emperor was very happy to hear it! They immediately asked that Krieg send their best and brightest troops to continue the fight for the Imperium across the stars. Because all those centuries of fighting in a nuclear wasteland made those fighting men, and women, of Krieg into the strong, disciplined, bestest soldiers that we are today. And that's kinda where my story begins. Well not yet exactly, because to keep up the supply of our brave soldiers, Krieg was granted these amazingly comfy vitae wombs that I was birthed in. It seemed the Emperor really wanted a lot more of these badasses to save the galaxy. And then I was finally born and immediately welcomed into the Death Korps of Krieg! I was given this really nice uniform and a cool gas mask. Oh, and also this helmet! And a shovel! And then they trained me to become the best soldier in the Imperium. Well, I had to dig a lot of these deep comfy trenches, march thousands of kilometers through the muddy wastelands of Krieg... hey, I almost drowned in mud several times but there was always a Leman Russ around to drag me out. And did I tell you that the Emperor trusts us so much now that the Death Korps is one of the few Imperial Guard regiments that is allowed to use combined arms forces? That means that one day I can become a Leman Russ driver! Or join the artillery and fire an Earthshaker! Or even ride a horse wearing ceremonial body armor! Pretty cool, eh? I must say, my Lucius-pattern lasrifle packs quite the punch. It can blow open a traitor's skull with a single shot! But when my battery pack runs out, I can always rely on my bayonet and trusty shovel. I can't really remember the last time I've taken my gas mask off, either, because they always send us to really amazing planets that are constantly emerging in toxic gasses or other kinds of fumes. And if that's not the case, then WE deploy lots of poison gas ourselves so we can feel right at home, because a beautiful green atmosphere really reminds me of my home planet, Krieg. But to be honest, as long as we get to fight for the Emperor I don't really mind where he sends me to. Right now I am deployed on this planet called Vraks. Oh boy, I've already made lots of fond memories of this place! Of course we have lots of trenches and the usual frontal human wave attacks, but unlike most battles, on Vraks time we are also digging countless of reeaaally long underground tunnels, and sometimes even do sneaky sneaky night attacks, and spook these traitorous defenders. I mean, they are all basically a bunch of useless militia, but it is always fun to tease them a little before stabbing them with my bayonet. They seem to be really good sports about the whole affair. And then there is this never-ending rain. Oh there is NOTHING like waiting in your trench before a bayonet charge and having the sound of rain dripping on your helmet; so loud you almost can't hear the whistle. But best of all on Vraks is the consistency of the mud. You know, it's that really good sloppy mud, and at the very least it sucks you in to your knees at every step. I've never experienced better mud than on Vraks; it's like walking through a literal liquid sea of sh*t. And when you're stationed on the Eastern front you never really know if that thing pulling down on your ankles is a piece of barbed wire or a nurgling! We don't have that on Krieg, you know, and it's nice to experience something new and exciting once in a while. At the start they told us that the siege was going to be over within eleven years. But we're having such a blast that the Emperor decided to extend our stay. When I heard the great news, I really felt a sudden sensation of joy crawl over me. The sound of the never-ending bombardment suddenly was like music in my ears.... Shell after shell of explosive retribution smashing into the frontlines of those heretics who would betray MY Emperor, just like those long forgotten traitors on Krieg so long ago. This is what I live for, and this is what I will die for. It was then and there that I could no longer control myself... I jumped out of my trench - not to charge at the enemy this time, but simply to dance. I started dancing in no-man's-land to the sound of the artillery! BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! The sound of coming doom! It was the most wonderful experience. Maybe a spiritual experience, even. I don't think I ever want to leave this place. It is here on Vraks that we have our greatest opportunity for redemption from the Emperor! To finally gain forgiveness for the sins of our ancestors. Every day here on Vraks, I can feel the Emperor smile upon me ~

Credit: "Hanz" - Janovich