Not off to an auspicious start certainly, but the emperor provides.
Ludicus had met the Colonel enough times to respect the quiet contemplative man's competence.
Of course, while the Colonel might be in charge of the regiment, he wasn't in charge of this battle or war, and Ludicus doubted that any of the generals in charged had ever been in a situation like this, up to their ankles in gore of their men, men that might have been friends or more.
There is no immediate reaction to the call for a medic.
Considering the carnage around, the next living medic is either far away, already up the trench or very busy with wounded already.
None of the troopers in your makeshift unit is equipped with any kind of medical supplies either.
And judging by their frightened expressions, all that keeps them from collapsing is the intimidating presence and speech of Commissar Marleno.
Well, too much to ask for. Very well, we will have to adapt.
I guess I am currently in command then.
"Listen up troopers, the plan remains the same, put on your goggles and pop smoke.
Hop to it, we do NOT want to remain in this trench too long.
Our comrades who have already started the advance will need our support!"
Giving the troopers a few moments to slot goggles and pull out smoke grenades, Ludicus takes a deep breath.
Felix follows the first two steps of the plan.
The third step does not go well.
Igor, still hauling the comatose Lt., only understands the goggles bit because everyone else does it. He pulls down a pair of goggles that have been modified with elastic material to fit over the small spike sticking out of his metal forehead and then climbs. It's not graceful. It's more like a series of violent, premeditated assaults upon the earth itself as the huge beast of an Ogryn punches and kicks holes in the side of the earthen wall large enough for him to use for climbing. All the while the napping Lt. rides precariously on his shoulder, limbs swinging in the most undignified manner.
His trail even serves as a kind of awkward ladder for others moving up behind him!
She's able to climb up behind the big Ogryn.
Kersin grunts in pain as the las bolt drills into his chest armor, than again as the blast knocks him from his feet. A veteran of too many battlefields to miss the implications of still being alive, Kersin realizes that the shell must have fallen into the trench. That is the only explanation. The trench that was until a few seconds ago, full of the first wave of the assault. As the realization sinks in, a combat blade clatters to the ground beside him.
An idea crystallizes in his mind with the ringing of the slightly scorched blade. There is no way I want to wade through what must be in that trench! Kersin scoops up the other combat blade, draws his own in the other hand and sprints for the edge of the trench. As he reaches the edge, Kersin leaps into the air with all his might and both combat blades held in a downward grip ready to stab into the opposite wall of the trench,
As he reaches the peak of his jump, sailing over the heads of the climbing and wading guardsmen, Kersin sees the abbatoir that is all that remains of the first wave. Despite his natural strength of mind and general immunity to things that others find to be scary, Kersin feels his mind crack a little at the sight of so many shattered bodies.
Crashing against the trench wall with another grunt of pain, Kersin stabs the combat blades into it. He looks down at the others starting their climb amd shouts down at them that phrase that has been shouted in situations like this since one Man first tried to lead another, "Come on, you apes! D'ya want to live forever?!"
Wading through the blasted remains of at least two squads of your fellow troopers is something that will most likely haunt most of you for years to come, but as you start climbing the steep side of the furrow, it dawns on you that the worst of this day is likely yet to come.
As you nearly reached the top, another whistle blow announces the attack of wave one.
Once again, scores of voices shout in united dissonance to the sound of their boots crunching over the volcanic pebble of this cursed planet.
Gunfire intensifies as many of the running troopers fire their lasguns widely at the entrenched targets, hoping to force the enemy to keep their heads low.
Once you finally pull yourself over the lip of the furrow, your goggles highlight the running shapes of your fellow troopers through the dense smoke screen.
They have already crossed a third of the remaining distance and quickly leave the visible range of your goggles.
Looking back down, you help the remainder of your impromptu squadron up over the lip.
Especially the two troopers carrying the mortar are in dire need of help, weighted down by the heavy weapon as they are.
A headcount makes it clear, that you lost five, not counting the Lt. on the way, for a remainder of 13 troopers (mostly tankers), a Commissar and an Ogryn.
Over the Command frequency you overhear a transmission directed at the unconscious Lt.
<< Alpha level fire mission.
Coordinates: base+1.45 / base-13.2
Three rounds rapid.
X-Zero spread. >>
I know those coordinates, but not much else.
We'll need cover to set up, hopefully the troopers themselves can work the mortar, otherwise we need the Lt to wake up.
"Listen up, we need cover to set up the mortar, find cover, now!"
"If anyone is in possession of stimms or similar stimulants, now is the time to speak up.
We need to get the Lieutenant mobile.
Possession of unauthorized drugs is of course an infraction, but one I would be willing to overlook this time for the benefits it might offer now.
However, should I find that someone possess such and did not speak up in our hour of need, I will consider that an executable offense after the fact."
A nervous voice answers the Commissar after a moment.
The voice of a young woman.
"Private Marther, Sir.
I've got a bottle of Stimm pills.
Pre-prescribed and all.
T-T-To counter chronic lack of sleep - a genetic twist from my mother's family.
I-I-Its only civilian grade though."
She robs over and hands out a small orange pill box, with six remaining pills in it.
The small label reads: "Stimm-100. Dosage: 3 (Three) per day. Use one with each meal"
"Very good trooper.
All things considered, we may need to at the very least double the dosage for the Lieutenant.
A battlefield is no place for a nap. However the application of them will have to wait until we are in position.
I shall hold on to them until then."
"Listen up, find a furrow, an incline, anything at all, we'll set up there.
Our orders are to provide fire support for the first trench charge.
We are meant to keep their heads down until the troopers have taken the trench. Most likely we are meant to advance then.
Thusly we NEED to start our assault now!"
"Does anyone except the Lieutenant understand what Three rounds rapid.
X-Zero spread means?"
Lugga steps up and plants his shield in front of the Commissar. He drops the Lt. and the mortar team falls in behind the makeshift cover. It's very far from perfect, but at least it'll protect from random, stray shots until real cover can be found.
Where throw, boss? the beast asks. He holds up a mortar round and wiggles it like an explody bit of candy.
Yes Sir! What was the message exactly! one of the Jeeves shouts.
"Alpha level fire mission.
Coordinates: base+1.45 / base-13.2
Three rounds rapid.
X-Zero spread."
"The Lieutenant have a rangefinder, you will be able to easily find the coordinates with that."
"Ogryn Lugga, do you possess a melee weapon...an ah...thumping weapon?"
The Ogryn nods and pats a giant slab of metal on a plasteel pole that probably counts as a Warhammer. The mortar team grabs the rangefinder and sights in. A few seconds later you feel as well as hear three rounds fired in quick succession.
"Excellent! How many more barrages like that can we manage with our current equipment?"
Having fulfilled their immediate orders, Ludicus turns towards the still unconscious Lieutenant.
"Let us see if this will have any effect."
Palming a pair of the pills, Ludicus begins to ease them down the Lieutenants throat.
Two, sir! More if we use Lugga's rounds, but he likes to throw his, sir and he's really good at it as long as we have the Lt. to tell him where to put them!
"Very well, two it is then, at the very least for now.
We'll have to see what kind of further orders we receive."
The last time I knew what to do, they promoted me. I wonder what catastrophe will come from knowing this? Kersin steps forward to draw the Commissar's eye, "Sir, I think I know what they mean by three rounds rapid, x-zero spread."
"It means to fire three rounds in rapid succession traversing along the enemy line. It does not say whether to bracket the coordinates or start from them and go either to the right or left. I suppose that is left up to either you or the Lieutenant." Emperor send that I am remembering this correctly and we are not about to drop ordinance where other guardsmen are about to be.
The Commissar fixes Sergeant Walkover with his augmented eyes for a moment.
"Have you experience in artillery yourself Sergeant?
Either way, I am gratified to know that even without the Lieutenant, there is someone present with the knowledge to qualify leading a mortar squad."
"Should we find ourselves unable to rouse the Lieutenant, you will be in charge of the mortar squad from hereon."
"Fortunately, they seem to be capable on their own, but a clear line of command is ever useful."
"The one problem we have is that only the Lieutenant know the exact orders he were given.
I rather imagine that the most sensible thing to do is to stay here and keep up the bombardment until our troops have reached the trenches.
By then we should be out of ammunition for the mortar anyway, and can freely join the fray."
Kersin keeps his reaction to this latest order off his face as the Commissar pronounces his sentence, "No, sir, no experience with artillery. I was in a battle tank squadron prior to this assignment. The meaning of some of the artillery commands were just drilled into my thick skull."
Glancing over at the prone form of the LT, Kersin grimaces, "Emperor willing, the stimms will bring him around, Sir. I will go see about getting the mortar as dug in as we can make it."
With nothing to do currently, the Commissar places himself directly in the field of vision the Lieutenant will have if he wakes up, pushes back his stormcoat and places a hand on his bolt pistol.
He had a very special lesson to teach...
Archibald comes to with a start and a shout. His breathing is rapid and shallow, his eyes dart around before settling on a pair of black eyes. What happened? he asks shakily.
Ludicus leans forward, his impassive face only about a foot from the Lieutenants, he modulates his voice to keep the conversation relatively private.
"Fainting in combat could be seen as a significant failure in your duties Lieutenant.
According to certain regulations, it is in fact prescribed a field execution, to set an example.
However...
I do not believe in wasting the emperors people, and I believe that you Lieutenant have a chance to redeem yourself in the battle ahead."
Ludicus voice lowers even further.
"Lead your mortar team Lieutenant, do a proper job, and the after report shall reflect ONLY your competence.
Am I making myself clear?"
The second wave dives to whatever depression they can find in their haste, while the mortar is build up and fired thrice behind the massive slab of metal that is used by the Ogryn as a shield.
Two times, curses and surprised screams of troopers getting hit sounds over the vox, but both times the troopers check in moments later.
Two more wounded, but both still able to carry on.
The shield is peppered with small arm impacts and holds off all but two rounds - both of which clatter off the tough hide of the Ogryn afterwards without causing any harm to the big brute.
After firing the rounds, the mortar gunner looks up
"Fire Mission completed, Sir.
Shall we break it back down or stand-by for further missions?"
If Archibald wasn't already white as a sheet and shaking he would have been by the end of that little reminder. He gulps and nods vigorously.
Then his team's question comes into his head.
Brreak it down, we're mmmoving! he orders in an equally shaky voice. Lugga, tally ho soon.
He says for the most team to pick up their weapon, which they do by basically giving it a piggy back ride. He takes his rangefinder back.
Once ready, Jeeves gives him a nod.
Right, Lugga, TALLY HO!
Lugga hefts his shield and starts moving forward. Archibald and the fire team fall in tight behind him. As soon as the formation is achieved Archibald shouts, Hi-Ho Silver! and the whole group sprints as one toward the trench.
"As we cannot provide support fire while moving, Lieutenant, can you raise the bunker and ask them to provide us with some?"
Archibald nods and taps his combead.
Papa-2! Charlie Alpha 1! Fire support mission, supressive fire, he takes a measurement, and lays out a couple firing arcs from the bunker's position.
Felix continues her dive away from the incoming fire into the best cover she can find. Shift over will you. she says to the person already there. Plenty of space for two here. Might be a little cozy o'course.
"On your feet troopers, if we stay here, we are liable to get a mortar salvo dropped on our heads.
We need to shift position, so it's time to run again."
The trooper in the mortar hole shifts enough to make some room - not enough thought that her brace has to move. Eyes stay fixed on the bulky bolt action gun at all times.
The reply is carried in a female voice. The answer is not so feminine:
"Bah, here's some room for you. Don't go touching my dear friend here thought or I'll have to rip you a new one. Who are you anyway, where did you come from and where did you bring a Commissar from?"
Felix fixes her sight on the scope of her longlas as she braces it on the lip of the crater. We're all mixed up now. I'm supposed to be in a Chimera with a few inches of thick steel between me and any Commissar to be honest...
She finds a juicy target, aims for the head, and fires.
The handsome middle aged Commissar took a moment to look around the remaining troopers, making note of each and every one as his eyes scanned them for even minute details.
He couldn't add much to the combat at the moment, but he was pleased that everyone seemed to be functioning well enough.
With the Lieutenant back on his feet, the burden of command was taken away, and there were even a Sergeant at hand if things should go ploin shaped.
After a few moments he strides over to private Marther and wordlessly hands her back the bottle of pills, giving her a respectful nod in the process.
Lynn sights her own target and squeezes the trigger, whispering all the while
"Oh yes baby - this is what we're made for. Now geeeeeently, don't go moaning on me before they even go down for you."
And a sound like a thunderclap echoes from the mortar crater. Echoed by a head - and more importantly a line of incoming fire - disappearing.
"Oh yesss. Well done honey. See there was that red again, the one you like so much."
After giving the orders for the bunker, the Lt. gets back on his local frequency. Ok, this is the Lt.! Cover and Move! Take that trench or be mortar'ed into the presence of Him on Terra! Let's Move! Hip-Hop!
His voice thunders over the vox with the commissar's admonition seeming to chase him across the blasted terrain and drive him to new heights of confidence. Or he hopes it come across that way...
"You heard the Lieutenant, the moment the mortar is packed up we move.
We can't avoid being targets, but we can be moving targets and make the enemy work for it.
It is our turn to do some killing now, for our fallen brothers and sisters."
As the mortar gets packed up, Felix keeps finding targets in the cone of her brace and keeps plugging away.
"Err so which of the loud guys is the Commissar? Or does it not matter because they are both allowed to shoot you from behind?"
The female trooper carreses the stock and shaft of the weapon for a moment before sighting down again and giggling
"Yesss. There we go. Now move your weapon juuuuust a smitch to the left. Perfect!"
With another bang one more incoming line of fire stops as a head disappears.
Sighing the trooper clicks in the brace and gets up a little on her knees - just enough to get a good start when the running start.
"The what-now? Oh sorry honey no worries I'll get you all ready for the next round before we move."
The female trooper clacks open her gun and ejects 2 oversized spent cases before routinly injecting 2 fresh ones. And then continues to carress the gun some more while waiting for the signal to run
"Aren't they supposed to be fresh out of the wash even while filth is raining right at them?"
Hits:
Felix: 1
Kersin: 2
Lt: 0
Commi: 1
Lynn: 1
Ogryn: 0
NPCs: 1
The time drags on forever as the mortar team scuttle to disassemble their heavy gun.
First the tube is detached from the bottom plate and rack.
Then the targeting scope (the most delicate part of the assembly) is unclipped from and vanishes into a padded pouch of the gunner while his comrade is carefully closing the ammo box.
A nod later and they lift the weapon parts with a grunt - one taking the rack and plate, the other the firing tube - and start hurrying after the Lieutenant and his biological shield.
Soon the second wave is moving towards the contested trench, passing a mortar crater where two female troopers wait and then join you.
The enemy return fire has drastically reduced in volume and no one is hit - other than the Ogryn with the shield but he doesn't seem to notice or care.
After you crossed half the distance, an enemy mortar round falls behind you, close to the now vacated crater which housed the two snipers only moments earlier.
You hear shrapnel and pebble fall around you but the few impacts you feel, are too weak to worry about - you are far enough away, bless be.
And now the enemy trench is very close, only a bit further...
*Dak-Dak-Dak-Dak-Dak*
The unmistakable sound of a heavy stubber opening up on full auto squashes your hopes of reaching your destination unharmed.
A long line of impacts scythes through your loose formation throwing up rock pebble where they miss and spraying blood where they hit.
Multiple cries of pain an shock sound up and overlap, making it all but impossible to discern who is hit just from their voices.
The origin of the attack is a sandbagged gun emplacement along the second line - the gunner shielded from view by a gun-shield, spent shell casings flying high and fast.
Some 150m as the bullet flies.
You're hit in the left arm, but praise be it is more a glancing hit.
The first one hits like a truck and it feels like it removed your entire left leg.
The second one hits you in the chest mid-fall.
You're hit. Right through the cap. This one is going to ring some bells.
You're hit in the right leg.
Following right behind the massive frame of the Ogryn somehow shields you from getting hit.
Somehow you are not hit by a single shell despite your size that should make you an obvious target.
Archibald spots the emplacement immidiately and shouts to Lugga, Stubber! Krak it!
He himself doesn't slow and jumps down into the trench with his rangefinder in one hand and his finely crafted Stub Pistol in the other.
Flak Armor -4 - reduced to -2 by pen
TB -3
= 4 Damage Bleed(1)
Lynn takes a hit to her leg and drops to the ground - not because of the hit but hey no need to tell the enemy about THAT. She sets up the bracing and starts aiming at the gunner behind the shield.
Igor literally slides to a stop, spots the emplacement instantly, and has a krak round in hand just as quickly. He hits the arming pin on the spike built into this forehead like a frat boy crushing a beer can. He then chucks the round with startling accuracy.
The HE round lands right in front of the emplacement and rips a sizable part of the gun shield apart as well as sending the sandbags around it flying.
The gun waves around wildly, still firing, completely out of control as if its crew has just died, was stunned from the shockwave or dirtied their pants.
Felix takes the glancing hit and just keeps running.
The bleeding doesn't stop though.
The Commissar is shot straight in the head, and yet to the amazement of anyone seeing it, he appears to merely grunt in annoyance, and continues on his way.
However, he notices the Sergeant falling and skids to a stop, reverses his heading and quickly grabs the man.
"No time for a rest now Sergeant, here we go!"
The commissar is not merely a tall man, but a fairly strong as well, hefting the other man with a grunt of effort.
Running forward he helps the sergeant over the trench line.
"Someone, find a good fire position to set up the mortar and prepare for bombardment of the second trench!"