Welcome to the Guard!

Game Master Swordwhale

Yeta doesn't see anything he could add to the fight right now so he holsters the bolt pistol and instead activates the powerfield of his fist, getting in position to charge the door should it be opened by an enemy.

Three dull detonations make the entire bunker vibrate to the sound of distant roaring of flames and men screaming in mortal terror.
Once you are sure that the grenades have gone off and the flames have died down, you force your way into the last compartment where only scorched and blasted body parts remain.
Sgt. Anderson nods and steps towards the southward gun slid, then speaks loud and clearly into his com-bead.
You only hear his normal voice, not the transmission itself, so he seems to be talking on a command frequency.
"South-facing L-Shape bunker is clear.
Easter flanking force has secured the bunker.
Current strength: 1 - 6 - 11.
I repeat: South-facing L-Shape bunker is secure."
Several seconds later he nods and answers an unheard transmission.
"Roger. New orders are to hold and provide fire support for main advance.
Anderson out."

He turns to the squad and his com-bead is switched back to your channel (so Bolus can hear him as well).
"Good work everyone.
We are far ahead of everyone else, so we need to secure this deathtrap.
Boom brothers: rig all entrances with boobytraps.
Sergey, help the father back in.
Tech-Priest, I'd be thankful if you could check the status of those heavy weapons.
See if some can be salvaged and repaired for our use.
Meet up in the second compartment, eyes downhill.
The Captain will lead the charge and there are several trench lines dug into the hill.
We will provide cover fire where possible and visual recon otherwise while making sure this bunker isn't reoccupied by the foe."

Sizzle nods and starts pulling out more explosives than any one person should be comfortable carrying. After a few seconds 2 Frags, 7 kraks, 4 det packs (all they have left), shapers, wires, triggers, and all manner of other knicks and knacks are laying in an orderly pattern on the bunker floor. Behind him sit lots of rockets and it's to one of these he turns first.
modify payload vs 50: 1d100 ⇒ 44 - +1 damage and burst/smoke to the Minefield missile
Please keep an eye out for any massed charge. This little beauty will really ruin their day!
He then turns his attention to the more conventional explosives.
What do you think, bro? Trip wires anchored on the hinge?

"Yes, but with a redundancy trigger just in case.
If we are going to be trapped inside, I want to make sure we don't get messed up because we were stupid like they were, eh?"

Grinning savagely, Asbjörn points upwards.
"Let's prove we won't fall for the same trick they did eh?"

Bolus crawls back into relative safety, wincing at the many aches and pains he is experiencing. One lucky lasbolt would be enough to put him down for the count. He retrieves and puts on his armor again muttering at the sleeping form of Hella. Unforgivable. We do not forgive. We avenge. before moving as directed. I am better suited to staving off assaults by fire Sargent and my tank of flame is not depleted yet.

Sizzle nods and the brothers go to work.

Glancing over at Hella, Asbjörn grimaces.
"Let's hope the emperor grants a swift victory to the push, the sooner they win this one, the sooner we can get a medivac here.
Most of us could use it at this point."

Scene & Character Swap
Most of you had a pretty crappy day all told.
It did not start too bad actually.
A new planet - albeit not the planet you were scheduled for.
A new war - albeit not the war you trained hard for.
A good speech from Col. Daan - albeit not a great speech.

But from there, it was an uninterrupted downward spiral with no real end in sight.
First, a crappy flight through space in a crowded, heated and smelly transport bay.
Then, a really crappy flight through the atmosphere and AA fire. Sitting beside a trooper bleeding out from a freak shrapnel is NOT fun. Nor is the revelation that an entire squad of guardsman two rows to the left just got melted from a defense laser "glancing" hit.
Followed by a really, really crappy crash landing and successive disembarkation under fire from not one but two defensive positions, loosing several more men.
Lacking any kind of support, you had the joy of marching across an uneven plane consisting of nothing but sharp-edged volcanic stone - still under heavy fire, towards one of the defensive positions mounted atop a hill.
A single point of good fortune has seen you being selected to stay with the main advance as opposed to be sent to one of the two suicide flanking forces.
Or maybe that would have been better.
Because the main guns still pounded mostly on you instead of the much smaller split-off forces.
But at least you still had your trusty Chimeras protecting you from the worst.
Not from the mortars of course who started to get pretty precise as you got closer and you more than once saw troopers going down - or high up into the air, in parts and different directions.
But now ... it seems you will even loose that protection.
A massive line of deep tank trapping pits is blocking your advance.
Burned into the ground with by excessive Melta use from the looks of it, the five meter deep and three meter wide gap in the ground is impossible to traverse for even your all-terrain APCs, causing the entire column to a force stop, right under the guns of a massive bunker complex.
Oh and there are several rows of trenches and foxholes dug into the side of the hill as well, filled with enemy infantry with too much ammo at their disposal, judging from the thicket of lasbolts and solid projectiles streaming down.
Mortars are ponding your formation for real as commands trickle down the vox net, making everyones blood drop to somewhere south of freezing.
"All personnel make ready to disembark transports and prepare for the charge.
Drivers: engage engine lockdown of your vehicles.
Lockdown protocol: Omega-Three-Major.
The Emperor Protects."

Commissar Ludicus Marleno cuts a striking figure amongst the black and yellow uniformed troopers of the Serenus 1st regiment.
Unlike the typical commissar, his uniform and storm coat lacks the typical black color, instead sporting a deep crimson red.

To the troopers sharing the Chimera with him, he has been a towering presences, at once both reassuring and awe inspiring, like a stern teacher or a strict but loving father.

Most unnerving of all is of course his eyes, obviously artificial, completely black and unblinking.

Now, they swept over the compartment as he scanned for the personnel that he was about to accompany.

Operate Surface (ag + 10 + 30): 1d100 ⇒ 71

Prudent, dangerous in the case of a retreat however. Clearly, the upper echelon will not accept a failure here.
The troopers will know it as well.

Rising from his seat, the commissar tagged his micro bead.

"Storm Trooper Findley, join me. We are going in search for a Lt ThunderBlossom."

Archibald is not hard to find, even in the chaos of battle. He's the only one standing perfectly upright with an impeccably clean and pressed uniform. He's currently near "Lucky Triss" Chimera 94-Beta ordering it's crew into formation. We are second line! A little closer than I like, but not too close for what I do. We are to take and hold the first line of trenches beyond the anti-vehicle pit! What Fun! Finally, some real action, not this sitting around and getting shot! Now, get yourselves locked and loaded. All the ammo you can carry and/or have! We're about to get Dirty!

But what he says threatens to take a second seat to what, or rather who, you see trailing him. There's a two man mortar team with resigned looks, and an Ogryn, Emperor bless you! This one is carrying a huge hammer, a shield, and an entire squad's worth of mortar shells and grenades. It's forehead has been modified with a steel plate and a small horn that looks suspiciously like the arming pin of of a traditional Mortar.

Ludicus Approaches Lt ThunderBlossom, doing a surreptitious scan of the man, which is a lot easier since his eyes does not appear to move.

"Lieutenant ThunderBlossom I presume? I am Commissar Marleno, and I have been ordered to join you for the forward push, along with Storm Trooper Findley."

Commissar Marleno! Always good to have someone along who can bolster the men and inspire the ladies! He seems completely unfased by your lack of normal eyes. My word even his boots are shined! How'd he do that?
And Stormtrooper Findley! I bet you're rearing to go, eh? Eh?

With a soft but audible click, Marleno's eyes shift to magnification mode and scans the Lieutenant.

My lord, the collar is even ruffled, crushed velvet... this man is certainly...flash, I can only hope there is SOME substance beneath it all.

Lugga, Walkie times! Jeeves! Secure for Advance! Squad Lucky Tess, Lock and Load! We're going in just after the first wave! Whot Whot!
He takes out a pair of Magnoculars and looks between two of the font-facing Chimeras
perception: 1d100 ⇒ 78
But he can't make out much.
Ha! They plan to actually make this a challenge, do they! Well, we shall rise to it!

Doffing his cap for a moment, Ludicus runs a hand over his slicked-back hair, not surprisingly also obscuring his face long enough to grimace a little.

This sort of leader is very dangerous, he is not exactly showing the sort of serious mien that reassures the troopers that he is going to give this his all.
I suppose this is why I am here.

Operate Surface +20 vs 64: 1d100 ⇒ 96

The Stormtrooper nods at the Commissar and gets up. His gun is linked to his backpack so he never got to store it away - he's as ready as it gets. He feels a prickle of emotion already with the Chimera being under fire and all but the fire is still too far away to get him warmed up.

For now the battle drill takes over instead of any active participation - meaning he gets out of the chimera before the Commissar, crouches down and scans the surrounding area for threats in his target range. He does not acknowledge the tea time chat breaking out behind him. For now.

The silent presence of Griz near the Commissar was a comfort, the only one he already felt confident he could rely on so far.
Of course, as a Commissar, he was more aware than most of the grueling regime the Storm Trooper candidates were put through, and what sort of soldiers it produced.

"We will need some oversight as soon as possible. Has anyone spotted any high ground we can use to scan the battlefield?"

I don't see any, commissar. Looks like we're at the bottom of this hill. Which is going to make these shots tricky...

"Hnnh, too much to ask for I see. Well, no matter, we will just have to make do with what we have.
The Chimeras are going to become targets for the bombardment soon, so we will need to advance swiftly and seek the closest cover."

"They will have ranged their guns to the line, meaning that crossing it will be under complete bombardment.
For us to be the most efficient, we need to find a secure place to counter bombard their positions enough to create an opening for our troops to take until they can reach the trenches and begin to disrupt their positions."

"So if anyone has spotted a good position, do not hesitate to sing out."

Spotting the artillery shouldn't be too hard once it fires. I can't do anything until then. He pulls out a handheld rangefinder and starts sighting things around the battlefield he can use and range marks. A blasted stump here, a rocky outcrop there. It's limited as he's limited to the line of sight between two Chimeras, but it's something. First wave should be on the way soon. I should know more once they make contact.

"Lieutenant, aside from us, do we have any friendly artillery support on standby at all?
With that rangefinder we might be able to at the very least keep their heads down until we ourselves are in a better position."

I have fire support channel to the captured bunker on the hill. Let me confirm they're operational...
Archibald then switches Vox channels and tries to make contact with the top of the hill.

Papa-2, Papa-2, This is Charlie-Alpha-1. How read? Over.

Once they answer
This is Lt. Thunderblossom, Master of Ordinance for the 1st Command Echelon. We are preparing to make our assault on the trechworks. Standby for fire support mission orders. Advise capabilities, over.
Once he as the report of what's available, he turns to the Commissar. Limited fire support on stanby. Now is the time, before they get us zeroed.
He then turns to his squad+ogryn. Deploy there... and Lobba, sits there. Squad Lucky, Prepare for covering fire!

Ludicus points towards the enemy lines.
"Our orders are to make it to the first trenches so we may offer continuous fire support for the rest of our regiment as they advance."

Turning towards the men and women of the squad, Ludicus sweeps his unblinking gaze over them all, making sure that they all feel included.
"It goes without saying that this is both a dangerous and vital job.
I expect everyone to do their part, if we are to survive and succeed, I expect everyone to fight hard but even more importantly, fight SMART.
Every trooper is a tool of the emperor, and to waste his tools needlessly is unacceptable.
When you stand before the golden throne to be judged, I expect every last one of you to be able to say with pride that you did your duty and that you died well, preferably at the end of a long life in his service, having bounced grandchildren on your knee and telling them stories of the Serenus 1st and their glorious campaigns.
Do not fail me, do not fail the emperor and do not fail those future grandchildren!"

Operate 110: 1d100 ⇒ 42
Yes sir. Shutting down systems

Felix smoothly carries out all the many steps of shutting down her tank with effortless grace, almost on autopilot before the non vehicle related part of the command filters through her consciousness.

Wait... ALL Personnel Charge? But... who will protect the vehicles Sir? She asks whoever is closest in command.

She doesn't mean to be insubordinate, it's just. She's doesn't want to leave the tanks.

We will, by pushing forward, Felix! If we kill them all there won't be anyone left to attack the vehicles!

"Troopers, you must realize the truth. With the Omega-Three-Major lock down, high command are signaling clearly that they do not expect us to retreat from this assault, nor will they accept it.
The time it would take to restart the Chimeras under major mortar fire would be literal suicide."

Felix nods slowly, unhappy with the order but too smart to say anything about it. She gathers her gear and, unhooks the longlas that had been hooked up to the tank generator as a general weapon of last resort.

That's where we are now she think as she adds it to her shotgun and standard lasgun and clambers out.

Gain a Longlas with one full pack and two extra packs.

Griz simply grunts an affirmative at the Commissars words while keeping his eyes on the guns sights

You barely found yourself, three squads all told and barely a fire-team of proper frontline troopers, when a long and high-pitched whistle echoes over the formation.
The universal signal throughout the Guard for a charge.
At once, three score soldiers rise to their feet and rush forward, leaving behind the somewhat comfortable cover of the closely packed Chimeras.
A conflicting sound of shouts rises along with the troops.
Officers yelling commands.
The few remaining Commissars yelling encouraging and threatening demands for courage.
Priests and religious troops singing hymns.
Hardened troopers venting their adrenaline by cursing vehemently.
Screams from trooper getting hit the moment they rose from cover.

Within seconds the first wave has reached the problematic trap trench.
You can see trooper after trooper dropping prone and disappear into the deep furrow. Some of them tossing grenades over to the opposite sites before dropping down. Smoke grenades to be precise, as moments later thick smoke from a dozen or more smoke bombs start shrouding a broad area between the tank trap and the enemy lines.
In the few moments before the smoke is complete, you see the first troopers climbing up the far side of the furrow and going prone, waiting for their comrades, trusting (and likely praying) in the smoke to shield them from enemy fire.

Return fire thickens and is coming down like a torrent of brass rain and lasbolts by now, pinging and zipping against the thick APC hulls you still seek cover behind.
Your com-beads actually fill with static from all the ionized air around you, making the broadcast somewhat garbled despite the close distance.
<< Wave grr -wo prepare to fo- grrr.
Cover fire in 10 grrr -l weapons.
Mark: No- grr >>

You are technically all subject to pinning(-10).
So leaving the somewhat comfortable cover requires a Willpower test.
The commissar's speak gives a +30.
The prospect of remaining behind gives another +20.

Target 75: 1d100 ⇒ 95

Completely unused to unarmoured deployments in her service Felix freezes in place.

vs 74: 1d100 ⇒ 30
Archibald has his magnoculars in one hand and his rangefinder in the other, desperately (but in a composed fashion) trying to mark points of heavy fire. He seeks out the source of tracer rounds, scans for the source of heavy las fire, and keeps a weather eye out for spotters.
awareness vs 40: 1d100 ⇒ 98
But the chaos is just too much right now. And then there's the smoke. He can't get a single bead before his view is completely ruined!
DAGNABBIT! I hate smoke! Anyway, up and on your feet, mortars. We're going in! He adjusts his vox bead to reach his wave and draws a bolt pistol. He waves it forward and shouts Wave Two, LET'S GO! THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!

command felix to move vs at least 76: 1d100 ⇒ 9
Felix! You move now or you die with your vehicle! Move! Move!

Sir, yes sir. Felix mutters, and is barely able to put her head down and rush, just a step behind the others.

Archibald is right behind her. Beside him to the left is a sprinting a mortar team. To the right is an Ogryn bellowing something in their rough tongue and easily keeping pace at a light jog.

And the Radiant presence talent gives another +10 above that.

Pinning test: 1d100 ⇒ 25

At the moment, the troopers needed to SEE the inspiring presence, which sadly meant the Commissar had to charge ahead of the troopers, thus presenting a target.

But, that was the burden of his role, and he was not one to shirk his duty.

"FOR THE EMPEROR AND FOR THE GRANDCHILDREEEEEEN!"

No Pinning Roll - Griz has the Fearless talent.

Griz looks coldly at the smoke and activates the preysense googles that unlike everyone elses were integrated into his helmets' visor. Hearing both the vox crackle and the Commissars order he follows them both - and starts sprinting into smoke and fire just a step behind the Commissar - Great leaders tended to be fussy if they didn't get the front seat for some reason unfathomable to Griz.

As he reaches the edge of the trench, the commissar stops and begins to wave the troops into the trench.

"Go! GO! The moment your feet touch the ground, run to the other edge, but before you climb out, make sure your goggles are on, then pop smoke grenades to make sure the cover remains, THEN we charge on!"

Archibald stops with the Commissar and waves people in too. You heard the Commissar! MOVE!

Acrobatics(Ag) vs 54: 1d100 ⇒ 37

Griz doesn't stop as the two leaders have their moment. He takes a quick look into the trench while on the approach and instead of stopping and slowly climbing down does a small controlled jump and hits the ground of the trench running.

Fearless, so no pinning roll.

As the last of the squad makes it into the trenches, the sound of heavy bootsteps sounds behind them through a lull in the incoming fire. A few seconds later, a tall and heavily muscled guardsman sporting Sergeant's stripes drops into the trench nearby. After a brief survey of the squad he trots up to LT ThunderBlossom and snaps a crisp salute, "Sir. A lovely day in the Guard, Sir. Sergeant Walkover reporting for duty. Apologies for the delay in joining you, Sir; last minute orders as the landers were loading, and finding you all in this was nothing short of guided by Him."

Ignore the intro post of Kersin for now.
He was a few minutes early and MUCH to prepared to assume everything goes as planned *play Evil_GM_Laughter_vol2*

The rush towards the tank trap is a nightmare, despite the fact that it is only a handful of meters.
You can actually hear the bullets and lasbolt fly past and at more than one occasion hear them smack home at someone behind you.
A tanker running beside Felix goes down to a freak headshot.
Another man, wearing sergeant stripes, takes a square body hit that seems to drive the air from his lungs and slows him down quite a bit. Kersin takes 13E, Pen:1 dmg - welcome to the game
The storm trooper is hit twice but seems oblivious to that fact, then performs a pretty reckless but all the more impressive jump-dive into the trench.
Everything after that happens very fast and you will forever have a hard time remembering details - beside the pure horrific feeling of imminent death.
The very unwelcoming sound of incoming mortar shells pierces the battle sounds.
At first, the sound makes everyone run quite a bit harder, hoping to reach the relative safety of the trench in time.
Then, you realize that this one is getting really, really, oh-god-emperor-that's-too-close -
THUMBBB
Everyone is immediately blasted from their feet from the powerful shock-wave of a close-by hit.
As you come round you briefly wonder how you are still alive, but then decide that getting into that trench takes quite the priority over any thinking.
Reaching the trench you suddenly understand.
The trench suffered a direct hit.
The bottom of the seven meter deep furrow is scorched and hollowed out from the ordnance and the walls peppered with fragments for a score meters in both directions.
It is a scene straight from a nightmare.
The entire trench is littered with body parts, gore and blood from your fellow troopers.
And the worst of it, as selfish as it may sound, is the fact that you have to get down there, wade through all of it and climb the opposite end, if you want to have any chance of survival whatsoever.

That scene alone is enough to warrant a Fear+0 test.
If you pass it, you gain d5-DoS (min. 1) insanity points - take 1 if you're fearless otherwise.
If you fail, you gain d5+DoF insanity IN ADDITION to anything the fear test gives you.
Once that is dealt with, you must get down there somehow.
You can simply jump, but that is a drop of 7m, so you would take d10+7 fall damage (ignoring armor).
YOu can try an agility+0 test to reduce the effective fallen height by 1m per DoS - which reduces fall damage by 1 per meter less.
You can climb down, which is not that easy Athletic+0 and puts you at risk of another round of getting randomly shot.
Or come up with an own solution and surprise me.
Getting up on the other end is a climb (Athletic) test, but with much less pressure, so you get +30 on that.
Crossing the gorey trench is (not only sickening) but also treacherous, and requires an Acrobatic+30 test to not slip and fall into the ... ground (which will net you another insanity point). Or wait for any further orders down there, which isn't exactly what I'd call a warming thought.
...
That was a lot, here's the summary:
1) Roll fear test (WP+0)
2) Somehow get down the trench
3) Cross the trench (Agility+30)
4) Get up on the other end (Athletic+30) - or wait

Fear: 1d100 ⇒ 14

Seeing the horrible state of the line, Ludicus realizes that this is exactly when he is needed.
Thus he draws his back his coat so his bolt pistol is clearly visible.

"Fear is the mind killers troopers!
Look at me, look at me, the emperor's authority made manifest!
You will not give in to fear! You will not stop fighting!
You will reach the enemy, because they are laughing at us!
I will not stand for that, I refuse to allow the enemy that has killed our comrades to laugh at me!
If you must fear, then fear me!
FEAR ME, BUT FOLLOW!"

Galvanizing presence (Fel +10): 1d100 ⇒ 31

He then begins his descent.

Athletics: 1d100 ⇒ 20

At the bottom of the trench, he waits, to see if the troops will now follow.

fear vs 34: 1d100 ⇒ 97 Oh dear Emperor that's... 7 DoF
fear vs 34 fate point reroll: 1d100 + 70 ⇒ (96) + 70 = 166 Holy Throne!
Fear Table: 1d100 ⇒ 94 The universe hates me
I pass out for the next five hours.
Insanity: 1d5 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 =20 because of Naive
mental trauma +0 vs 34: 1d100 ⇒ 44 Only 2 DoF this time
trauma table: 1d100 + 20 ⇒ (80) + 20 = 100
I am now extremely jumpy and paranoid for the next days: 1d5 ⇒ 5. I gain +10 to perception but -10 to WP
trauma table for insanity 20 vs 24: 1d100 ⇒ 76 that's 5 DoF
table: 1d100 + 50 ⇒ (28) + 50 = 78 Same result again. I assume they stack?
Archibald Sees. He went through the same training as everyone else, charged like everyone else, Did his Duty, just as the Commissar said. But when confronted with a literal river of blood and hail of enemy fire... Blackness envelops him.

Fear 35: 1d100 ⇒ 78
5DOF lessened to 4 DOF

Fear table: 1d100 + 40 ⇒ (50) + 40 = 90
Panicked

Agility test to jump 50: 1d100 ⇒ 84
Nope
Damage: 1d10 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Cross the trench
Target 80: 1d100 ⇒ 63

Felix yowls with fear at the flying body parts and leaps straight into the... relative.. safety of the trench. The yelling Commissar and the pain of the landing jars her back to at least some semblance of awareness though and she wades through the gore to get to the other wall.

Insanity gain: 1d5 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Doubled to 10 because of Naive
Well that's a turn

Trauma check 45: 1d100 ⇒ 71
3 DOF
1d100 + 30 ⇒ (60) + 30 = 90
Paranoid also
1d5 ⇒ 1 days

will vs 62: 1d100 ⇒ 58
insanity: 1d5 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 =6
Lugga, the hulking brute following just behind the Lt. sees his charge fall. Without really thinking about how the ground just got a lot muddier or how there was suddenly lots of screaming or how red lots of people just got (though it did make some of them kinda pretty), he scoops up his charge and follows the shouty man with the black holes in his face.
To get down into the trench, Lugga grabs onto the rim of the massive hole, lowers his huge frame down with one hand, then lets go. Also his hand slips through the soft dirt, but same things. He negates at least half of the fall distance this way.
He then starts wading through the rapidly filling trench. Which was wierd. The water wasn't coming from the sky like it normally did. There was also lots of meat down here. Maybe the red water was.. oh, ya. That's it. The water's coming from the meat like it did when the frozen meats thawed in his mouth back home.
crossing the trench vs 50: 1d100 ⇒ 34

What in the world?

Ludicus narrows his eyes at the sight of the Lieutenant being carried.
His keen eyes detect the signs of life, the rising and falling of the chest and the lack of blood.

"MEDIC! See to the Lieutenant, now!"

We'll need to have him awake for the mortar bombardment.

Ag + 30: 1d100 ⇒ 23

Crossing to the other side he approaches the Ogryn.

"Ogryn, your name is Lubba, yes? Someone will see to him, Ludicus points at the Lieutenant, they will make him better, understand?"

Lugga/Igor certainly hopes someone can see the ElTee. He's up high on Lugga/Igor's shoulder after all! Why anyone would want ElTee butter is beyond Lugga/Igor, but Lugga/Igor doesn't judge. He nods to the eye-less shouty man. It's not until the medic kit arrives that Lugga/Igor understands and puts the ElTee down.