Welcome to the Guard!

Game Master Swordwhale

Ashora sits slumped in the turret as the adrenaline drains away, taking up her usual role as lookout. As the vehicles roll up she does her best to look calm and lethally efficient, snapping off a salute to the commissar and counting the reinforcements.

Glancing over at the other girl in the truck, "Hey Petri, you got your marksmanship lanyard yet? After watching Simmins tear up that walker I'm thinking we oughta get a few more sharpshooters in this platoon--but one of us should have an anti-vehicle gun! That'll put some fear into these ugly green f~@&s, hey?"

Leni awakens briefly to mechanically pack up the field hospital and look for the stuff that got lost when the meteor came down, then sit down in the return chimera and pass out once more.
Only after an hour or 2 of sleeping on does she awaken properly - looking around with a haunted expression for a moment before calming down, strapping out of the seat belt and make a round with the troopers, giving some first aid to the minor wounds that happen on the battle field and applying everything she can to the wounds that have already been treated so they properly close up as soon as possible - getting started with extended care in other words.

"Say, Leni, you think this is going to leave a nice badass scar, a lame one or not at all? Monia asks the Medic as theyre hopping out of their lift to HQ and before she goes off to report to the Primaris Psyker stationed here and get busy during downtime.

"I ask mainly because of the potential story value and since most of us just either sit behind the lines and do some divination stuff or are on the front lines....and well...yeah, its not that often that we can be compare battle scars y'know?" she continues, a slighlt limp in her step barely visible.

Leni raises an eyebrow
"Well, I tried to make small stitches but huge cleavers wielded by grunting
monstrosities are not exactly a surgeons scalpels, so depending on your own
inate healing power anything from a faint line of scarring to a wide rend is
quite possible. If you want to make it more prominent you can always peel of the
scabbing before it has completly healed.
If you do it properly thats actually a medical method to REDUCE scarring, but if
you just do it once or twice it will have the opposite effect."

"Good to know, actually, but, since we ain't the 'leggy' show off types what with the uniform, I might just skip on this one. Anyways, even if its your job to do so, thanks for keeping us quite literally together back there. May your sleep be deep and restful, you've earned it." she says patting Leni on thr shoulder and signs the Aquila before noticing a Psykana scribe or whatever and waving them down for information on her divisions status and if there was a training/meditation chamber free or available at this base.

Sidling up to Celephix, Ashora clears her throat and awkwardly fidgets for a moment before speaking. "So...I know I'm not part of your amazing religion and all but, uh, where does the machine spirit of an M77 Marksman Lasgun live? I mean, *cough* , would the spirit mind overmuch if I...er..."fiddled around" with the grip?"

Eyes wide, the sniper decides she's already committed and plunges ahead. "No offense meant of course, please don't turn me into a servitor! It's just, you know, I have these long fingers and the grip doesn't feel quite right, same for the stock really it's too short--and I just thought that maybe with a few, um, adjustments me and the spirit could work better together...please don't make me a servitor..."

Leni smiles and snaps off a salute. "All in the job description. Just like pushing back huge murder machines with your mind, right? Let's meet again on our feet."
Watching Monia go her ways actually makes something click. She looks around for a moment, spotting Simmins she rushes over and drags him off by the sleeve
"Just remembered you're new to the squad. I'll show you our rooms, we might even meet Faye - thats sarge - there. Probably gonna have to look for her anyway, she'll have our new orders."

So far downtime for now. Must have a look over the others to find something fitting as well.

Thud exits and relays what he understood from the meeting to Notch in Ogryn. Notch has no idea what that was all about, but he seems impressed that his big feels gets to keep the book.

In the end they both do their duty and go get blind drunk, Notch with a huge 64 oz. mug engraved with reliefs of his home town (chained to his wrist, just in case) and Thud with a 55 gal drum onto which a particularly helpful cogbro had welded a handle.

Ahhhh, nothing like the duty-sense of an Ogryn xD

Leni tries to get the stuff the regular way first of course.

Squad Rating: +13
Enlisted Soldier: +10
Front Active: +30

Violent Impasse: -10
Spent at front: -10

Red dot sight(scarece): 0
Camo cloak(rare): -10
Field Suttures(average): +10

Red Dot sight vs 33: 1d100 ⇒ 96
Camo Cloak vs 23: 1d100 ⇒ 64
Field Suttures vs 43: 1d100 ⇒ 82

Nope, the munitorum hates her.

Actually she won't go and randomly ask people for stuff just yet - she'll try to
find the little rat that traded her the last pair of preysense googles for med
supplies. Shouldn't be too hard to find, she looks for ...him in warehouses and
other places where enough stuff is piled up that his massive pile of anything
won't attract too much attention.

1d100 ⇒ 12

Commerce+20-20(unlearned) vs 58: 1d100 ⇒ 44 2DoS, probably not enough against a professional equipment weasle xD

38+20: 1d100 ⇒ 38

Further Downtime actions to Discussion please.
I will kick off the next mission now, and we don't want to get confused.

Your squad followed the call to push west after your previous mission was completed.
You lost quite a few comrades there, your supplies got only half restocked, your CO has abandoned you in the middle of the night and 'Margret' (the name of your Chimera) is dangerously low on ammunition after an encounter with an Ork Walker disembarking from a crater the mysterious attacks are causing on a regular basis.

Report in with your new characters everyone!
Actual gameplay will start in one or two days.

Missing Stuff: 2d10 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
Missing 1 clip from the lasgun - since he does not actually use this unless the situation is REALLY bad he gave that to Pete to spend when supplies ran low - him being the weapon expert and distributing supplies to the best man for the job and all.

missing: 2d10 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

The value of a Ministorium Priest does not come from the equipment he carries. It is either a blessing of the Emperor or a joke from the Warp Gods that Bolus is at full supply even while other guardsmen are not

missing stuff: 2d10 ⇒ (10, 5) = 15
I LOSE HALF MY WOUNDS!? RNGESUS WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME D: This has to be revenge for Monia not imploding...The 2 missing Grenades (Ill say Krak since walker) I can live with. Guess that means he got shot up or got close to it, Krak'd it and lived to tell the tale.

Wounds: 8/16 yay for Soak 11 (TB5 AP6) assuaging SOME of my worries hahahah!

2d10 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7
Pete didn't get all the grenades the commissar had requisitioned, so he shorts himself the two smokes and counts himself lucky.

If people ever don't look at the commisar or the man shadowing him that likes to shoot the sky, they will notice another man in their collective shadow. Pete prefers it that way. Anyone in the unit, however, will know that things that fall under Pete's watchful wrath are reduced to chunky salsa with scary regularity. He took to ballistic training a little too well and can now drop a grenade or melta shot on your head at full range without much trouble. That is a good thing because Pete is remarkable in all the wrong ways.

Pete is a small man and not particularly strong. His looks are best described as average and he's quiet to boot. He's good with the paperwork though. Regiment doesn't even suspect that 3/4 of the Commisar's reports and requests never actually touch the commissar. And that's just the way both he and Pete like it.

He replaces the temp pilot of the chimera with a small smile and a small wave. The Commisar would expect him here, though he, the "commisar" actually, was careful to ask that a Specialist be on hand for when he had to get out.

Just behind him and much more noticeable is the oldest Guardsman you've ever seen carrying the heavy weapons that Pete is so good at shooting. Mord's hair is white (naturally), his walk is a bit slow (battle wound), and his temperament is cranky (uniformly). Mord acted as Pete's pack mule, spotter, and body guard. Being the only one around who had been through a campaign before and survived, he became the defacto grandfather of the group in short order.

Bad Stuff: 2d10 ⇒ (9, 1) = 10
What'd I Break?: 1d100 ⇒ 61

The last week had been rough, and the squad hadn't done much more than get to the starting zone. Adroit doesn't talk much outside of firefights, and she's hugs cover like it's going out of style, always keeping an eye peeled for the best spot to keep out of sight and out of firelines.

She totes that volley gun around pretty casually, but she never used it until that big xeno walker came smashing in--by the time the dust cleared Adroit was nowhere to be seen...until she opened up a volley on the walker's ass-end and did some damage that way. She grins a bit at the memory. Smoothly done.

The commissar is not a happy man. Not that he'd ever let that show towards anyone, much less the troopers looking for him for leadership. Despite his best efforts far too many of his troopers went down to the greenskins. Of course he could've ordered quite a few of them patched up and returned to something close to duty but this would've fatally undermined morale. Once troopers start questioning who will be next they stop worrying about the important parts like fighting the enemy - or looking out for their comrades in arms.
The push that had started looking so well is now as close to a necessary suicide mission - under manned and under supplied - as possible without stenceling the words on top of the paperwork. Despite this it is quite possibly the safest place to be right now. The hail of of orkish... drop pots, for lack of a better word is everywhere and the push itself is currently the largest concentration of deployed troopers in a couple of clicks. So for better or for worse they'd be the heroes to clear the way to the hive. And going by the inofficial guard primer of hoping for the best but expecting the worst the 'reinforcement' at the hive would be a large amount of detpacks, an orbital image with a large red cross on top of the center of the hive and the words "ARTILLERY, SEARCH AND DESTROY" - oh, and maybe, just MAYBE someone who can actually set them without blowing the squad up along with the target.
Taking in the passing terrain Lind pushes those morose thoughts aside, focusing on the issue at hand - surviving the comming days and that means first and foremost to keep the troopers in the mood to fight.
Radiating that easy confidence that came so naturally to him - and probably had gotten him picked for the job in the first place, since the tutors in the schola went insane length to impart this trait on all the others - he climbs down into the crew compartment of the chimera.
"Alright Men, we have passed the outer trenches. Our comrades here have done a sterling job of keeping the greenskins out, and decimated them nicely in the process. But don't worry. They left enough of the ugly green frakkers to go around and each and every one of you will have plenty left to earn a commendation on this mission. Don't let that get you carried away however. A trooper who died an unnessesary death is a trooper not doing his duty protecting his divine majesties domain. So while you will be save from myself and my colleagues in this case I am sure father Bolus can inform you just whats awaits those souls." he gives just enough of a smile to make you wonder whether or not he is serious about this.
"So stay sharp, the shooting can start any minute now."

Some more scene setting...
As the convoy you are part of passes the last imperial position - a totally wasted collection of destroyed bunkers, raided trenches and destroyed ork vehicles the survivors use as cover - and near the Ork invested hills, you have to slow down and finally stop.
Your Operator keeps the motor idling and you all take nervous looks on the watch were one position is marked with a red pen - the time the regular artillery strikes are happening - gladly you notice you have at least half an hour before the next strike.

The stop is necessary to allow the convoy regroup and enter the street cutting through the hills - the only reliable and fast way for vehicles to get through.
Commands gets passed down to form several smaller groups, entering the street together. Those groups will stick together and spread out to clear the region. Each group will have a Battle Tank in its midst surrounded by a couple of Chimeras loaded with infantry and one or two scout vehicles (Taurus or Sentinel Walker types mostly).
According to rumours there are hundreds of small Ork camps in the hills and even more beyond the hills in front of the hive.
The push force has to clear a decent area around the street, so that further imperial units can follow the push quick and easy.

Your battle group ('Gamm-12') is lead by the venerable Leeman Russ Tank 'Andoran's Fist', commandeered by Lt. Harker who also is the responsible CO for this group. Beside your own Chimera, three more ('Hellblazer', 'Angelus' and 'Parrot') form the backbone of the group. In addition, two guardsmen on Sentinels stand ready to scout for the group. On the infantry side, the other chimeras carry one full squad of guardsmen each - although you don't know them since they are from another regiment.

Being a member of the Commissariat Lind has access to pretty much all data that falls under military jurisdiction. This of course includes the vox channels of the other squads and the command channel as well.
That being said he is in the habit of having the vox operator boost the squads tactical net(aka their combeads) through their own vox unit as well as the one in the chimera, giving them a much larger possible pick up range and allowing him access to the relevant channels without physically going to the next vox unit.
He is currently monitoring the command channel, the walkers squad net and of course his own squads net.

Witness the dead of the foul xenos. Brought Low As They Crashed Against The Emperor's defenses Bolus intones as they pass the first line of imperial defense. For Are We Of the Astra Miltarum Not The Emperor's Shield? And Now Are We Not Become His Avenging Sword? Brothers and Sisters! We go Now to Cleanse the Orkish filth from this place. Do Not Falter Under his Gaze But Press Ever Onwards!

Pete settles in his firing port and tries to relax. The preacher always made him nervous. When that guy got going he could really being the metaphorical fire. And the real fire too. In Pete's professional opinion he didn't mind getting up close with the greenskins a little to much.

He quadruple checks his grenade launcher and makes sure his box of backup-backup ammo is secure next to the commisar's melta gun and backpack fed ammo. It was a lot of firepower, but that was his security. Bonus could trust the Emperer all he wanted. Pete placed his trust in ammunition.

What orders did we receive from Lt Harker exactly? Not that a commissar has to follow them, but he won't deviate from them without good reason as it would undermine the Lts leadership. Specifically are we ordered to stay as close to the Leman Russ(aka: metal-meatshield) or are we expected to peel off to engage enemies?
Lind leans into the drivers compartment: "Quick run down. How are the driving conditions? How much space do we have to manouver? How far can we get off the road while maintaining a reasonable speed?"
Something he should know from previous deployments: how fast does the rear hatch open normally / in an emergency? Whats the firing angle on the firing ports?

Still decidedly battered and bruised from their last encounter and none too happy about being sent into even deeper green waters, Aurius sits in Margarets crew compartment nursing some bruised ribs and trying not to move too much to avoid cuts reopening and further ruining his already blood soaked, tattered, torn and dusty uniform.

Thankfully, he mentally tells himself, his still carapace armour is doing its fair share at keeping him together but it could do with some butt padd- and he snaps out of his say dreaming as the Commissar starts speaking but fades back out as the priest starts preaching. Now, he ain't no Heretic and he sure as hell believes in the Emperor and all he stands for but why do the religious nuts have to be one of two categories: Boring or Crazy-Terrifying? I mean, c'mon, odds are there HAS to be some nice ones out there, right? Well, he hopes, maybe he'll live long enough to meet one.

As the weapon specialist, the unordinarily-ordinary ex-whatever named Pete, starts to get fiesty, Aurius tenses up and goes through his pre-combat mental checklist:
-Weapon: ready
-Armour: not power armour but good enough
-Gear: the munitorrum didnt take it all back so better than most situations.
-Body: could be better but hes not dead and can still use his hands. Orks are going to die.
-Mind: Schola Progenium trained, drilled and approved, Emperor-Fearing, Loyal and rearing for theiving-idiot Xenos Blood.
He was good to go.

He then looks up to the only other Stormtrooper in the ride As far as I know... makes eye contact and nods readiness before turning to the Commissar to signal the same.

The street is wide enough for two tanks to easily drive side by side without risking accidents.
You will be the eight battle group to enter the route.

Travelling the street running through the hills is a boring but nerv-wrecking activity. You are nervously watching the steep walls of the artificial canyon the street is now passing through, awaiting an ambush every minute. But nothing happens. The far off sound of weapon fire is audible and every hour the shockwave and trailing projectile of the enemy artillery position reminds you that speed is of importance. It takes you two hours of fast and non-stop driving to reach your first waypoint. The canyon disappears as the street runs through the valley between two hills. Your area lies to the north where the valley between the hills is interrupted by a third hill and a plateau overlooking the street. If you narrow your eyes, you can make out the shapes of crude watchtowers up on the plateau with ugly orkish banners dancing in the harsh wind on top of them.

After reaching your area of operation, Lt. Harker voxes the battle group.
"Time is of essence. We will rush that hill with all we got at top speed.
The Fist will bring down each watchtower on the way - your task is too keep its flanks and rear clear.
We wont stop until we find their major base the intel says is somewhere in this area.
As soon as we have it in sight, we will split up for a three-side attack.
The Fist, Parrot and Angelus will form the center, Margret and Hellblazer will flank with one Sentinel each.
Hold fast and your eyes wide open soldiers - Ork can be clever bastards if they want to.
Operators: Floor it.
Hive Spire awaits.
Harker out."

The transmission is followed by the deep bellowing of motors tuned to top speed. Dirt sprays behind the tracks of the tanks as they speed away from the flat surface of the street.
The heavy footfalls of the flanking Sentinels speeding up as well, the Operators on top shaking around uncomfortably.

Chimera hatch opens&closes within a few seconds in combat mode - aka one round

Adroit grunts as the orders come in, then does another weapons check, scowling at the damaged sidearm but unwilling to throw it away.

Pete considers his options and shrugs to himself. He grabs his standard issue lasgun and settles into position at his right side firing port. There was plenty of heavy weaponry here. His would be needed later.

This is all really dependant on if I actually got the Plasma Pistol or not...
By the way, I forgot to ask in the discussion thread but how much extra lasgun ammo did Aurius actually requisition? 2-4 clips?

Seeing his fellow Trooper discouraged at their damaged equipment and seeing as he himself had an extra sidearm, he unholsters his own laspistol, twirls it in his palm and offers it to her butt first.

A smile floats around the corners of the commissars mouth as his hand first moves over the handle of his chainsword, then he draws his hot-shot las pistol.
"Mission start. Man the firing ports. Permission to open fire on sight. I want disciplined fire the moment hostiles appear. First port on each side calls out targets. Trooper Gerring, be ready to switch to the turret when autogun fire becomes necessary. Father Bolus, I assume the flamer would be adequate for cleansing the green abominations."
Overwatch action: declare that you will fire / semi auto fire / full auto fire any hostiles entering an 45 degree ark in front of you. If someone enters you get a free action to take your shot and the hostile has to test for pinning even against single shots.
The commissar stays seated for a few more moments while the troopers scuttle for their assigned positions, like the black eye of a small storm. Once everything settles down into a focused calm he adds: "Double alcohol rations on return for the first confirmed kill shot." then climbs to the top hatch to oversee the tactical situation.

I tried looking through the characters(reasoning that Lind has had access to troopers files) - only Pete has weapon training for the autogun? Seeing it is a heavy solid projectile weapon it needs Weapon Training(Solid) + Weapon Training(Heavy), matching Petes heavy stubber
Also rules aren't quite clear but I'll assume it's possible to get to the top hatch without interfering with the turrent gunner - otherwise commanders would be stuck up there ripe for snipers to pick them off.

Also, how many laucher frags are in a case/box?

If you need me in the autogun just say the word. I thought we'd have an npc gunner for that. If we don't I'll gladly man it.

Err true, we have no idea who is riding in the Chimera aside from the PCs. GHOST! You have neglected your duty to pass on vital inteligence to these valiant defenders of the emperors holy domain. I will mercyfully grant you the chance to redeem yourself by carrying out your duty right this instant but do not let me catch you sleeping o the job again or disciplinary matters will follow *hand cassually rests on the butt of the hs las pistol*
... xP

Current operator of your Chimera 'Jeffry' answers the commissars question in a hushed, low voice.
"Driving conditions are good on the street Sir. Not so good in the mud besides. Probably two third speed there. Maneuverability varies greatly with landscape and ground condition... Sir."

++++++

It takes no more than a couple of minutes before you hear the clatter of solid projectile shells clattering against the armored hide of the chimera and the fearful cry of Jeffry: "Incoming fire! The tower fires at us!"
As if he overheard it, Lt. Harkers steely, calm voice reports in on the battlegroup channel.
"Keep the speed, conserve ammo until we are in effective range. We'll need it.
It's only a couple of machine guns on top of one of the towers.
The Fist will level it quickly when we get in range."

...

Two more minutes pass while the convoy crawls up the side of the hill while getting hit by shells from time to time. Everytime the proven armor of the Chimera blocks the impact and send the projectiles ricocheting off to the side.

Then the watchtower finally gets in effective combat range and the battlecannon of the Russ bellows its war cry. The shell lands near the base of the tower, the blast ripping away half of the fundament causing the cluppled-together tower to topple over. The firing ends - for now...

Harker orders the battlegroup into a tight romb formation with the Fist in the middle, surrounded on four sides by chimeras and one sentinel in the from and back. You have the rear-right position, with the Parrot before you.

Trying some more asci art here
S=Sentinel, C=Chimera, L = Leeman Russ, M = your chimera
Does this makes sense?^^
x-S-x
C-x-C
x-L-x
C-x-M
x-S-x

You slowly pass the ruined watchtower it's left (so it is on your right side).
Carefully watching through the tight firing port windows Perception tests -10 you try to make out any movements as you pass the ruins of the collapsed watchtower...

Everyone give me an awareness test modified with the above mentioned -10. Were does the turret currently faces too?

Perception -10 vs 11: 1d100 ⇒ 73 Very much nope, not even if there are better sight conditions from the top hatch

Being the rear guard at the right side the turret facing is east-east-south or 4 o'clock

Per 26-10=16: 1d100 ⇒ 34

From the back seats Bolus continues his litany

Lord Emperor watch over us as we continue to bring your fury down on the foul Xenos which infest this place, which should rightfully be yours he intones as they pass Impart on us a fraction of your immutable glory. Give us the strength to tear their filth out of this ground, yea, by the very root and branch!

No matter what the others might think of the devout priest in their midst. His constant invocation of The God Emperor does make you feel just a bit better about the situation you're in.

Radiant Presence Talent means everyone within 20 meters with line of sight to Bolus get +10 to WP tests vs Fear and Intimidation

perception 27-10 = 17: 1d100 ⇒ 49 nope, despite awareness being trained.

From his position at the rear of the Chimera, Aurius doesn't notice a damn thing especially since his was facing inwards and towards their LTs tank.

Despite not being able to really see anything, Aurius was as attentive as he could be on the lookout for anything humanoid, green, loud and stupid.

perception 19: 1d100 ⇒ 39

Pete mans his gun and scans, but never strays far from the wreck of the tower.

Let's get this started, eh?
The second Storm Trooper of the squad by the name of Aurius Thantus takes the middle gun port of the right side, increasing the eye-count on the far side of the convoy and on the rubble.

As the group is on the same height as the watchtower, Aurius shouts a warning and open fire with the mounted lasgun. Another warning shout comes over the group vox channel a few seconds later from 'Parrot'.
As you follow the red after-flashes of the firing lasgun, you can make out three groups of three greenskins each appearing behind the rubble of their former watchtower, charging towards the vehicles in a dead sprint - their hands wielding the large grenades of their kind.
Aurius scores two hits with the fixed lasgun, but the shots only manage to slow down the mad rush of the hit Ork...

They are now about 50m from you and 40m from Parrot!
Everyone roll initiative and your first round. Also Overwatch actions for those that declared them and who are on the right (^^) side and on a weapon port.
Firing at them has the following modifiers until further notice:
- short range +10
- firing slids bracing +15
- no comrade salvo available
- firing from moving vehicle -10
- vehicle movement over uneven terrain -5
- running Orks -20

Did you uuuuhhh have a copy paste SNAFU ^_^;

Initiative: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12

Oh my bad, I intended to bot Pvt Kalemis and not you Aurius ...
*whoopsy*
;-)

Initative: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

Lind turns around towards the orks, following the tracer lasbolts.
Squadnet: "Hostiles to the north east. Autogun take aim but do not fire yet. Lasguns fire at will focus fire left to right."
Taking a moment to aim for the leftmost ork he loses a single lasbolt from his HS Laspistol

BS 37

- Aim +10
- Re dot sight +10
- Single Shot+10

- not yet in short range because pistol. No penalties because marksman
- firing from moving vehicle -10
- vehicle movement over uneven terrain -5
- running Orks -20
= 33

Fire vs 33: 1d100 ⇒ 24 42 - Body
Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 10 Damage, Pen 7

init: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

Half action aim +10, semi auto= 45
vs 45: 1d100 ⇒ 11 = 4 DoS for 3 hits
Overload setting.
Energy, pen2: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6
Energy, pen2: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Energy, pen2: 1d10 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Pete does not mess around. He flicks his las into overload and takes a steadying breath. Starting at the left, three searing shots streak from his gun and rip into the charging orks.