Prologue

In memoriam, 8745th Montral Fusiliers, 22nd Imperial Division, "Terra".

Let us take a moment of silence to remember those brave heroes.

Those of you not members of the Adeptus Mechanicus might wonder at that simple blazon, gifted to quite a many Imperial Auxilia successor units in the Siege of Terra.

I will endeavour to explain: after the battle, and due to the great loss of records after such a monumental battle, no unit larger than a company was not amalgamated with another unit, and only an un-amalgamated unit could conceivably claim honours of individual battles in the siege of Terra, but, it was decided by the Regent of the Imperium at the time, who happens to also be the current one, Roboute Gulliman, that all units whose lineage had participated in the battle could lay claim to the blazon "Terra", indicating that they had been, at least in some part, among those one and a half million Imperial Auxillia defenders of the palace.

Those of you among our blessed order will know them by other names, will know that of the almost nearly numberless members of the Excertus Imperialis, quite a few regiments had been founded even earlier.  In the case that interests us, their lineage traces back to 1869 Imperial Reckoning, according to some sources(they apparently include even more ancient honours, see below) and do their full regimental blazon includes the following:

• DÉFENSE DU CANADA – 1812-1815
• Canada du nord-ouest - 1885
• Ypres, 1915, 1917
• La Côte
• Festubert, 1915
• Amiens 1918
• Bataille de la Somme, 1916
• Ligne Hindenburg
• Arras, 1917, 1918
• Poursuite de Mons
• Dieppe 1942
• Bataille de l'Escaut
• Crête de Bourguébus 
• Woensdrecht
• Saint-André-sur-Orne
• Beveland Sud
• Crête de Verrière
• Tilly-la-Campagne
• La Rhénanie
• Le Hochwald
• Falaise 1944
• Route de Falaise
• Le Rhin
• La Laison
• Groningue
• Forêt de la Londe
• Oldenburg
• Dunkerque
• Nord-ouest de l'Europe 1942 et 1944-1945
• Anvers - Canal de Turnhout
• Afghanistan
• Old-Hundred 
• Unification Wars: Franc Theatre: Neuilly-sur-l'Eau, Orioc Theatre: 2496 Bentley

Unlike some other, almost contemporary regiments(see 1st Royal Canadic Van-Doos), they have been re-founded multiple times to adapt to various tactical requirements, earning 'malleable fusiliers' as an unofficial nickname from high command.  That this is accompanied by almost equally-as-frequent occasions where the regiment was wiped to less than 10% strength is not often recognized.

Few have been so crucial to the existence of the 8745th founding of the regiment as then- Captain-Commissar Michael Goldenrod, my great-grandfather, who passed away most recently, aged 128, after a long battle with illness.  He was their last surviving member, having been one of the few who had been afforded juvenat treatments.

I will now read from a recently recovered diary of my great-grandfather's:

I am 127 years old, I am an old man, although I am the youngest member of the Senatorum Imperialis right now. I have been serving the Holy Emperor’s Ecclesiarchy as Commandant of the Schola Progenium for two decades now.  I am the last survivor of my old regiment, the 8475th Montral Fusiliers. I miss them, from my old commander, Sophia, the old fuss-budget, to the others, her brothers, my sister, and all the others, Wanda, chief of our heavy weapons squad, and… Marsha, the last one… The last one to go, inches from her own Senatorium seat, the cause of her divorce.

The crowd aahed and oohed, not expecting that.bit of personal knowledge...

"What? you didn't know our great-grand parents divorced so their professional prospects wouldn't be curtailed?"