It has been several weeks since your company landed on Aeynas as part of Operation Hammerstrike. Members of the Catachan 14th Recon, you have been at the forefront of the fighting for all that time, pushing deeper and deeper into Ork held territory. After several hard battles supporting the forces of the Scintillan 17th, your company has finally reached the Teeming, a vast gungle crater where the Orks have made their primary strongpoint. After a particularly bloody night, your squad has become separated from the rest of your company. You are now holed up in the ruins of an Ork fort, with only your platoon sergeant Dryak and a handful of wounded men. The task of re-joining your platoon greets you with the dawn.
Sergeant Dryak has been with the 14th Recon Company for a very long time and it shows. He has served in the platoon since you came to the regiment and you all know him well. He is a hard ass but looks a bit scared due to the situation you are all in.
Your squad was 10 strong last night but after the last brutal Ork assault all were wounded except for you sorry lot. Rork is unconsciouis from a head wound, Tabas is blinded from a stikkbomb and Ganal is missing a leg from a choppa blow. The Vox Tabas was carrying looks damaged.
He examines his weapons and equipment to see what he has left and then begins trying to tinker with the Vox trying to fix it.
"I don't know about you all but this fraking planet is not going to be my resting tomb!"
He looks up again at you all with the look of fear. You have never seen your Sergeant like this before as he tosses the Vox to the ground.
Jene "the Genie" Rodriguez looks up from maintaining her gear.
"We need to secure the perimeter, then pattern out and secure the greater area. If there's something to kill, we'll kill it. If there's something to use, we'll use it.
Sittin' here like this is just waitin' to die.
And maybe his "Holiness" Galt can fix that Vox, he should at least take a look before we write it off. The machine spirits may not wanna talk to you right now, Sarge.
No disrespect."
"Three blind grox... see how they run?"
"I can take a look at the vox see if the spirit inside will bless us with a functioning communication device"
Thelius looks over the vox tinkering with the mechanics while mummbling what sounces like zeros and ones. Sounds like pure gibberish...
vs 65
"Looks like we are back online, communications a go!"
Thelius crosses his arms, left hand pointing 1 finger up, right hand cupped making a zero with his fingers and bows deeply in respect to the machine spirits
Urok was not sitting amongst his comrades. Instead, he was slumped over into a corner, hiding in one of the greenskin storage rooms. He had been in this room ever since the fitting had finished, sobbing quietly to himself as he continued to examine the bloodstained dog tags dangling from his massive pinky finger. His eyes scanned over the name 'Gurion' and the words that were pressed into the soft metal but, he could make nothing of it...
All he knew was that these belonged to his Lil' Un.... Old Lil' Un Gurion... And so he proceeded to sob even louder, small whimpering sounds gurgling from the back of his throat.
Cottar "Teeny" Gamwich stirs in his elevated post, ever vigilant. They say the only thing he can do better than shoot is cook. Some of his "Teenys Special" would go good right about now. He drops down, like a cat, and addresses his comrades.
Listen ya bastids, either every one of us is making it back or none of us are. I dont know about you guys, but I am supposed to die in my sleep, fat and old. The last I looked, I aint old yet! So let's get the hell out of here!!"
Mr. Galt. What's the chatter? Can we listen in? Gettin outta here is fine , but when we engage I want it to be on our terms.
Once Thelius Galt has successfully dealt with the machine spirit in the Vox it suddenly comes to life in a babble of voices and panicked commanders. After a few moments of listening, you piece together what must have happened while you were cut off in the fort. It seems a massive Ork counter-attack has been launched against the Imperial advance and is threatening to encircle everyone between the Teeming and the Fallow River. To prevent the advance elements of the 233rd and bulk of the 14th from being cut off, a general retreat has been ordered and all units beyond the Fallow are to fall back. To prevent a breakthrough to the landing zones, the Imperial Navy will “glass” the entire region around the Teeming, bombarding it from orbit in an effort to blunt the Ork attack. The bombardment will begin in 11 hours…
Sergeant Dryak's face grows stiff with the transmission and begins to curse like a drunk sailor!
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! They expect us to climb down through the Teeming and cross kilometers of stinking, smelly, Ork s!+$ infested swamps and THEN the Fallow River before they blow this place to high hell! Don't they know we got injured troopers here!!@#$!"
"Urok quit your sniveling and get over here! Carry Rork and Gnal since they can't move on their own. Canteen you help Tabas navigate this area. Galt keep an eye on the Vox in case any more transmissions come in. We need to fall back to the company and fast!. Any bright ideas before we get our heads chopped off by these ugly green skins?"
Sergean Dryak looks to Canteen all grumpy like.
"Fine! Rodriguez you help Tabas then."
"Sarge I did a number crunch chance of surviving if we remain here with our gear and our wounded.
Theluis carries with him around his neck a canister of his still beating heart which he detached completely from him self long ago to rid him of his "emotional" ties to this world and places the canister under his garments.
"alternative options to take into considerations
Theluis stares into the Sarge's gaze with cold eyes that reflect no kind of feeling only harsh logic
"1 we leave the wounded where they can draw enemy fire which we can follow the other to retreat or create our own flank attack as they come to check enemy fire.
2. One of us can creep into enemy territory and fire a suprise attack damaging key rations and supplies of enemy stronghold which can slow them down considerably.
3.we can go on the offensive and arc out in different directions and keep enemy from encircling us give ally forces time to regroup,retreat,and or create a defensive line of their own.
4. Continue to electronic static ***Hzzz*** as originally planned and you guys can hope the best
Rodriguez moves to Tabas. "How are your eyes, has the pain subsided?" She bends down and offers her hand helping the man stand. Then she helps him with his gear.
"Does the enemy have vehicles, a small transport? We could borrow one. Solves two problems Sarge, speed and moving the wounded.
Galt, can you rig that vox to pick up enemy frequency? If we can't understand them would signal strength indicate proximity? Could give us a leg up."
Picking up her own gear, Tabas and I are ready to move out."
At first, the Ogryn tempted the idea to ignore the Sergeant's orders and continue to nurse his sorrows. He had no interest in being yelled at right now and unless there was another one of those green xenos creatures to kill, he could care less about it...
That was until he heard the orders to help carry the wounded soldiers. He always loved the Lil'Uns of this regiment. They were mostly nice to Urok. Wiping away the tears from his ugly mug, and hobbled himself up to his feet and then slowly began to make his way out of the little storage shed. Growling in frustration as he fumbled at the door handle, he let out a bellowing roar and punched into the sheet metal, the abhuman being in no mood to deal with such annoyances and instead elected to simply punch the door down.
Strength Test vs 43
Sergeant Dryak looks back as the door come slamming down.
"Not so loud Urok! I know your upset but we don't want to draw any undue attention to our location!"
"This damned jungle is not going to be the death of me!"
He looks toward the tech-priest and Rodriguez.
"Transportation is probably out of the question here being we are in a Jungle and Galt we are not leaving anyone behind right now! Just because your more machine than human doesn't mean you can't act more human! Throne help us!"
"No one will be left behind. By the God-Emperor's good grace, we shall all cut through the jungle. Sergeant Dryak, we await your plan."
Vex hints that if the sergeant is unwilling to lead then he shall take command.
Dryak nods to the Commisar.
"OK LISTEN UP! Slight change of plans. Rodriguez your better off having that flamer of yours ready i'll help Tabas. Teeny and Canten you guys scout ahead and try to find out a clear path out of this crap hole but NOT TO FAR! We don't have any reliable communication methods and don't need to be loosing anyone else out here. The rest of us will followup up in staggered formation until we make it back to the main company. Any questions?"
Vex looks over the troops for any sign of incomprehension or insubordination.
vs. 58
Thelius packs up his belongings with the vox in his offhand and las gun in the other ready at a moments notice to lay waste to any unfriendly company.
"Ready to move sir."
The fort is a maze of scraps and refuse still littered with the bodies of Orks and Guardsmen from the resent assaults. The squad has to travel through corridors and caves to make it's way out of the fort.
Teeny and Canten move ahead of the squad and meld into the shadows with ease and the rest follow up shortly after.
After scouting a few minutes you don't see much threat but eventually come across a group of 3 Orks, one with a slugga and 2 with shootas all carrying choppas. They seem to be patrolling the area and there is no way to get around them unseen it appears and this is the best path to get to your company.
Urok said nothing as he stomped towards the rest of his squad, running his forearm across his face to get the stinging tears out of hi one good eye, the flesh around it red from a long crying. Reaching down, he picked up two of the wounded squad mates and hefted them both gently into his massive hands, cradling them so in his arms like they were some animal infant. With his arms full, his Ripper Gun was slung over his back.
Burk signaled Teeny to keep eyes on the Orks while he slipped back to warn the rest of the squad.
"Three Greenskins on patrol, Sergeant. You want to ambush them?"
"If we set it up right, Gamwich could take one out and lure the others past me and Canten. Then they're in the kill zone."
The Commissar smiles to encourage this burst of initiative.
Thelius gets himself into position to execute said plans. Due to bulky size Thelius will fall back but stay in range of the group in case he needs to shoot
"Awaiting further instruction sir!"
T.Galt will aim down sight towards pending targets but will hold his action until the more stealthier Allies take their turns. A slient kill will draw less attention of other foes.
Init.
INIT:
Rodriguez finds cover, so as the Orks will pass her within short range of her Flamer (15m). Back to the wall, she's ready for action.
Like all good leaders, Vex takes the rear guard position the better to direct the actions of the others.
init
Urok, still unaware of the Orks that had been spotted by the others, is still far behind, attempting to sum up the courage to walk into the dark.... tiny.... oxygen deprived.... closing in.... caves.
Init
Orc1
Orc2
Orc3
Initiative Round 1:
Rodriguez - 12
Galt - 12
Urok - 12
Orc2 - 12
Orc1 - 11
Vex - 10
Orc3 - 9
Canten - 7
Gamwich - 5
Dryak - 5