Deathwatch: The Undeath of Zanatov's Harbour

[Koris]

Karael ponders their options. They could spend a lot of time traveling through the planet to to avoid the detection of their shuttle and evade the debris field completely. Or they could risk it for the sake of assaulting the enemy before they mustered their defenses. A tough choice, and one that was up to Vahn if anything.

''Brothers, if they know about the Gallant Blade, they will surely learn of their trap on the buoy being sprung also. Our moment of surprise has been stolen from us, and with it the advantage that we held. Now is the time for action! We have out coordinates, and although we lack a proper Thunderhawk to carry us into the fires of battle, we can still salvage our situation with a rapid assault on the enemy position. We need to act fast before the enemy has a chance to call for reinforcements and warn any potential compatriots.''

Karael looks towards the Inquisitor ''Inquisitor, do we hold the capability to jam surface communication?''

[Haval]

After checking the coordinates on the dataslate, Aldwin will say that 'This suggests a position many miles below the surface of the planet's equator. Is it some pre-age of shadows bunker or are the cold traders hiding in caves?'

Turning to the others, 'I would always like to know more about a target before I assault it.' Pointing at Naimon, 'especially as our enemies have shown they have are capable of anticipating us.' Now Aldwin sounds angry. 'But I would welcome the chance to bring vengeance for this.' He will wait for the others to speak of alternative courses of action.

[Ascension]

Inquisitor Jiang frowns at Karael's question.

"The Blade does not have any sophisticated jamming equipment, no. We could broadcast white noise or Ecclesiarchal hymns, and that might cause some interference on their comms, but we simply don't have the capability to blanket all possible frequencies. At least not without..."

He gestures toward the stricken tech-priest, who has lapsed into unconsciousness once more.

"We could at least orbit around to perform scans on these coordinates, to get some idea of what sort of base our foes have established here. If our ship's presence here is already revealed, we might as well see what information we ourselves may glean from our opponents."

With an audible thud, the lighter sets back down within the Blade's hangar bay, and clamps engage to secure it to the deck. A blinking yellow light informs you that the air is rushing back into the hangar around you... soon it will be at breathable levels, and Naimon will be able to be rushed to the medicae.

"What shall I tell Captain Smith?" the inquisitor asks.

[Toxic Mind]

"What is necessary to see that he performs his duty." Vahn says succinctly "No more, no less." This whole business did not sit well with him. He was glad that the tech-priest had been recovered, that he had been saved, and the reward for his bravery was not death, but it bothered Vahn that his team could not perform the duty themselves. It was a flaw that could be exploited by a clever opponent, and if Corlis Vahn had learned one thing from this experience, it was that their opponents were clever indeed.

[qechua]

"At the very least, our enemies only know something is coming, they still do not know who or what. We may have lost some of our surprise, but not all of it. Any preparations they make will be done by the time our orbit completes to insert, so we may as well take the time to study our foe."

[Koris]

Karael shakes his head at Rafens suggestion. ''Brother, you underestimate our enemy. If they could hijack an Inquisitorial buoy, then they surely understand that it isn't common practice for Rogue Traders to poke at the warning beacons enough to prompt the triggering of their trap. In the very least, they could be expecting the Holy Inquisition to be investigating this system. Whether they expect the Imperial Guard or a regiment of Adepta Sororita doesn't matter to us, only that they have time to bunker down or cover their tracks.''

He turns to Vahn and the Inquisitor ''When we were scouts, did you ever get discovered? And if you did, what was your next step? In my case, it was to kill whoever discovered me, or run for cover. Though the scale may have changed since then, this is essentially the same situation. If we decide to linger and spy on our foes for any longer, they will have the chance to act while we sit on our hands waiting for cogitators to crunch the numbers.''

He turns to Rafen while placing his hand on his battle-brothers shoulder. ''Let the orbital surveyors work in tandem with our insertion. That way we don't waste time, and the enemy will think that we are preparing for a large scale invasion while we slip behind their defenses.''

[Inspector Valin]

Jaden's been standing very quietly by Naimon's bedside, helm still on. He's listening to the others but his mind is elsewhere. As the topic turns to their adversaries knowledge, the Stormseer mutters to himself, "We never had surprise."

Pessimistic, perhaps, but he feels sure of the conclusion. Sighing, Jaden steps towards the group, and specifically towards the side of Karael, nodding to the squad. "I agree with Karael. The smugglers have strong weapons and giving them time to fortify, take their posts and assume battle order is wrong. Survey data could help our assault, but speed will help it more. Especially if they're able to work out that they have a negotiating chip." Jaden looks apologetically towards Jiang before continuing. "Our enemy likely have Interrogator Feinmann and her team captive, remember. If they attempt to use the agents as hostages, that will place their lives in jeopardy. We should strike quickly and decisively to stop that happening.."

Spoiler: OOC

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As a note, Jaden's actually acting against his demenour here. He's Irrepressible, but Naimon's heavy injury, right there, with him unable to help has left him troubled. Which is another reason he's advocating the 'strike quickly' thinking.

[Haval]

To Aldwin there was no easy tactical choice here. They did not know enough about their enemies strength or understand the consequences that their actions might have to make an informed decision. Either going in now or delaying to scout the target might carry an equal chance of endangering the people they were supposed to save. Yet the attraction of going in now was obvious, and not just for the satisfaction of bringing the Emperor's vengeance.

Aldwin will voice his uncertainty 'I admit I do not like feeling like I am being led around by the nose here, but attacking the target site has the merit of allowing us to fight the battle on our own terms rather than our enemies. We need only to avoiding taking them for granted. Short of a compelling reason to delay for the sake of intelligence gathering, I am in favour of planetary assault.'

Spoiler: ooc

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In favour of attacking as long as we try to prevent the news of us being here from getting out. So attack at night if possible, try to jam communications and prevent anyone escaping.

[Koris]

Karael nods at his battle-brothers in turn. His eyes turned to Vahn in an attempt to read his mind through a layer of ceremite. Suggestions like the one he just made would have been unheard of from a line trooper when talking to a superior officer. But as they were all technically equal in a way, Karael feels he can turn this situation into something he was actually good at. Skulking around in the shadows was never his thing after all, he preferred honorable face to face combat. Although the Imperium rarely had time for such things, much preferring orbital bombardment and high caliber artillery when the Astartes weren't around.

''Shall we prepare for assault then, Squad leader? Do you have any other insight Inquisitor, as this is your mission after all?''

[Ascension]

Inquisitor Jiang smiles thinly.

"I would not pretend that the Inquisition ever truly commands the Astartes, even those of the Deathwatch. I would be even more loath to pretend that my own personal strategic acumen is anything to compare to yours. The only further caution I will give you... Well, I would ask that you keep in mind that my Interrogator and her Acolytes may yet be held captive by the traitors. I would appreciate it if you could moderate the force of your assault enough so that there is a chance they may survive."

His smile grows grimmer.

"If practicable, of course. I know I must accept the probability that my people are already lost."

[Toxic Mind]

"My personal preferences it seems will need to take a sideline. Let us take the fight to our enemies. We fight on our terms, and if the Interrogator can be reclaimed, then that objective takes priority over any save capturing a living member of this xenophilic filth."

[Haval]

Aldwin will hang his head at Jiang's words. He couldn't fault the Inquisitor for his pessimisim. 'Inquisitor, I have no desire to let that happen if I can still prevent it.'

[Koris]

Stepping forward and taking off his helmet, Karael makes the sign of the aquila with his free hand as he looks down on Inquisitor Jiang. ''If they still live, I will make it my priority to bring them back alive after the assault. For in all my years defending the Imperium, I've aided my chapter in saving many civilian lives that were threatened by xenos slavers and heretical cultists alike. This day will not be different Inquisitor. Let this be the day the Heretics learn of the Deathwatch, for the first and last time in their short miserable lives.''

Karael turns around and begins walking out of the shuttle, sending requests to refuel his jump pack to some serfs and servitors in the hangar. He will return when all preparations have been done to set out on the assault.

[Ascension]

Lacking the drop pods or Thunderhawks an Astartes warship could provide, the Gallant Blade's Aquila lander is the best it has to offer for a combat insertion. A new clamour rises in the hangar as the crew busies to ready it for deployment.

Inquisitor Jiang, meanwhile, withdraws to the corner of the hangar, where a boxy terminal allows access to the ship's cogitators, and begins to make calculations, frowning over the results. After a few minutes, he seeks out Vahn.

"I'm afraid there are still a few decisions which must be made before you depart," he says. "Most importantly, how you wish to time that departure. The target coordinates are currently on the night side of the planet, but that's actually a problem if you wish to attack from cover of darkness. Even assuming the fastest timetable possible for deployment, by the time an Aquila could reach the target, flying in underneath the debris field, it would be mid-morning at the earliest. If you wish to attack at night, you would either have to delay your departure by nearly a day, giving the enemy time to run and hide, if they have any means by which to do so, or... or you would have to take the direct route, descending directly through the debris field itself."

He shakes his head.

"Captain Smith has a fine crew, and they would give their best effort if you demanded it, but I would not feel confident that your lander would reach the ground intact, in that case. With your armour and physiology, you might survive a crash landing, but... it could be costly."

He shrugs slightly as he changes topics.

"There is also the matter of Inquisitor Bramimonde's acolytes. While Naimon, of course, is in no condition to be going anywhere, the others could still accompany you, if you so wish. It would be a risk, for them, but I'm not sure how much their technical expertise could aid you simply over the vox, especially if we make an active attempt to jam the enemy's communications. It's your call, squad leader. Once you've decided when to deploy, what route to take, and whether or not to bring your technical advisors, I believe the Aquila will likely be ready for your use."

[Toxic Mind]

"We cannot give the enemy time to hide - valuable information could be lost. However, the debris field seems an nonviable alternative. We knew the risks when we stopped to examine the buoy. We will have to assault in the morning. Perhaps some recon will reveal whether the enemy intends to run or fight. We can strike when they are most vulnerable."

"If the Lander can remain, then bringing the advisors is worthwhile. They can be sheltered while we eliminate the worst of threats. If it cannot, then I'm afraid I must consult my team to determine if they wish to undertake the risk of protecting humans. In either case I would bring at least one specialized in interrogation. Such skills will almost certainly come in use after our assault."

Spoiler: OOC

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If you have opinions one way or another lemme know :D Vahn would be using his vox link to broadcast to his squad as he talks.

[Ascension]

"The viability of leaving the acolytes... and myself, if you require someone trained in interrogation... in the lander would be dependent on both the extent of the enemy's defenses and how close to the target you wish to disembark. Flying in close, disembarking into a hot landing zone... the Aquila isn't built for that, and you would risk the safety of those on board. If you landed further out, outside the traitors' range, the landing zone would likely be safe, but you would need to make your own final approach on foot."

[Haval]

Aldwin is waiting for more concrete information to be available on the target site and the surrounding area. If they could not attack under the cover of darkness, then they would need to learn as much as they could about the battlefield.

He will give his assessment to Vahn over the vox. 'If the acolytes are willing to accompany us then they have my respect and I would do what I can to protect them.' Even those that he would rather not associate with deserved that much for the moment. 'But I think that we cannot be certain of their safety even if one of us is assigned to accompany them. And considering we are here to rescue hostages I would hate to split our attention. I say keep them on the lander if we can consider it secure.'

[Koris]

''I believe we should wait to transport them down when we have a safe area established. We don't know what kind of opposition we are facing here, and we don't want to be stuck in a situation where we have to drag wounded back to the LZ while also protecting the Acolytes. When it comes to the landing site, make it further out in my opinion. Had we been fully equiped with jump packs we could do it more efficient to strike on the site directly, but as we lack that ability it is better to ensure we use our superior training to encircle the enemy and destroy their outside fortifications first from range.''

[Ascension]

Unlike the cargo lighter you traveled on to reach the warning buoy, the Aquila is primarily a personnel transport, and it strains to accommodate six fully armed and equipped Astartes, one of them wearing a jump pack, along with a quartet of Inquisitorial personnel. Blancandrin, being the stoutest of the mundane passengers, has actually been placed forward, in the co-pilot's seat, to free up space, but the other three, Aude, Olivia, and Inquisitor Jiang himself, are strapped into the three crash seats which remain in the passenger compartment. The rest of the seats, all those closest to the exit doors, have been removed to free up enough space for your kill-team's equipment, meaning that you would need to trust to your mag-boots and ceramite shells for protection in the event of a crash.

Though none of the mortals, save perhaps Aude, looks like much of a fighter, they have all changed into more practical gear than their shipboard wear, and have armed themselves against a worst-case scenario. Meek Olivia's transformation may be the most dramatic: while she lacks the power armour of her more militant Sisters, she has traded out her robes for carapace, and a boxy bolt pistol, nearly as large as yours and proudly emblazoned with the Sororitas fleur, is cradled on her lap.

Though the Aquila has an armaplas observation dome at the front of its passenger compartment, just behind the pilots, and the cockpit is transparent as well, there's little you can see through them from your vantage. Only the debris field is clearly visible, blurring by overhead. A much better indicator of the progress of your flight is the holoprojector in Inquisitor Jiang's hands, which casts a luminous wireframe globe into the center of the compartment, with the positions of the Aquila, the Gallant Blade, and the target coordinates clearly marked. Scrolling numbers annotate the speeds and distances involved, and estimating travel time is trivial for you given that information.

As you watch, the Blade moves into position above the target, only about 40 minutes ahead of your own projected arrival. Shortly thereafter, a notification rune strobes from the hololith, and, with Jiang's confirmation, the image shifts to a still pict-capture of the enemy's encampment. Detail is blurred by distance, and the foreground is cluttered with debris, but you can get a decent idea of the layout of the base.

The enemy is camped at the lip of one of the enormous basins left by the Tyranids' vast digestion pools. Dry basins like this one dot the entire planet, but one small feature does seem to distinguish this one from its kin. A large chunk of debris, unfortunately, blocks most of it from view, but you can make out just the edge of a black smear running along the inside wall of this basin. Such a smudge would seem almost beneath notice if it weren't for the fact that nowhere else on the planet's surface have you seen any break in the monotony of its dead grey soil. Nowhere else have you seen any sign that anything other than dust could have escaped the Devourer's maw.

It seems likely that, whatever that black streak might be, it is what caught the enemy's attention.

The enemy encampment itself curves around the southwest edge of the basin, placed on the level ground closest to the suspicious black smear. It looks to be a cluster of prefabricated hab domes, such as might be found on any Imperial colony world. One dome, much larger than the others, sits at the northwest edge of the camp, while three of the smaller domes are grouped together toward the southeast. Curving walls of sandbags have been piled up just beyond the domes, providing cover against an attack from the west or south. On the other side of the camp, just before the land drops away into the basin, sits a black dais or pedestal of some sort, which is shaped like a crescent moon. Near it sits a six-wheeled motor lorry. There looks to be a steep road descending from where the lorry is parked down into the basin. There are no sandbags on the basin side of the camp, nor do you see signs of any vehicles other than the lorry.

Spoiler: Map and OOC

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I think neither my description nor this map really perfectly conveys the scene that's in my head, but this might help you get an idea of what I'm trying to say:



All the specks and irregular black objects are the debris cluttering the foreground of the image, not anything on the surface of the planet. A is the large hab-dome, B1 through B3 are the smaller hab-domes. C is the black dais. The unlabeled shakily-drawn curves toward the bottom and left of the image are the walls of sandbags, while the curve nearer the top of the map is meant to represent the lip of the basin, past which the land drops away. The dark grey box, outlined in black and partly obscured by the big piece of debris, is meant to represent the black smear along the wall of the basin (and was labeled as point D before I dropped a piece of debris over that label). The lorry is unlabeled, but I hope my bad drawing of a truck is at least recognizable as a bad drawing of a truck. The road down into the basin is not depicted, but I think you can get the gist of where it ought to be.

Rolling Tactics is a perfectly appropriate response to seeing this.

[Haval]

Aldwin has squeezed himself into the back of the transport. His mag boots are engaged to keep him stable, and his vox is set to private so as not to transmit the various litanies that he has been muttering to himself since they left the Blade. Mostly he is watching what he can see of the debris field and marvelling at the scale of the battle that created it.

As the scan comes through he will stop his meditation and peer at the image with interest. The smudge on the edge of the Tyranid basin obviously stood out. 'Are they excavating something?

They did not yet have adequate intellegence on the enemies numbers or the function of each of the hab domes but they could perhaps set some priorities. Aldwin will think out loud over the vox, as if delivering a tactical assessment to his squad sergeant. 'There are no apparent static defences other than the domes themselves and there are no visible air or voidcraft. I would regard the lorry as at least a tertiary target, if only to disable it and prevent us having to chase it down if they use it to flee.' Then, he will look for the other's opinions. Brothers, what is our approach? Do we stay together to try and maximise our impact, or do we split up to cover more ground? Do we advance up the middle so as to turn as needed or do we aim for one or the other flanks and roll up their defences?'

[Koris]

With his helmet held firmly under his left arm, Karael stands with his eyes locked on the exit ramp. His memories flooding of similar situations with his chapter. It takes him a moment to remind himself of the difference between the Deathwatch and any other Astartes chapter. He didn't like that they had so little information on their enemy. Had this been ann Ork outpost they could at least expect poor aim and heavy weapons. With Tau it would be heavy and deadly but incredibly weak once you get close enough.

But with traitors you could never know. And if they were potentialy excavating any Xenos weaponry to use in their defense, it would only make things much harder to predict. Finishing his introspection, he speaks openly into the hold of the Aquila. ''Brothers, although we may have spent centuries fighting side by side with our brothers back in our respective chapters, I think it is time we embraced the way of the Deathwatch. We are few, and the enemy is without a doubt plenty. Thus we should split up and do what we do best. I'll disable any heavy weapons on the fortifications from up close with my jump pack until you get the opportunity to bypass their defenses. What say you brothers?''

[Haval]

Aldwin thought that Karael's plan sounded headstrong, but it wasn't tactically unsound. 'If you are willing then the risk is yours to take. I will close to support you as soon as I am able.'

[Toxic Mind]

"I serve best at range, but together we will draw their attention. No one can long ignore the firepower of two Astartes Devastators leveled against them. There are two types of stealth - the type where your opponent does not know of your existence, and the other, where you blind your foe with radiant light, keeping his gaze from the true threat. We, brother, will be your light."

[Koris]

Karael raps his plastron twice in quick succession as his mind and body prepares for the fight. ''Glory to Terra and the Golden Throne, Brothers! Glory to Sanguinius!''

He draws his hand flamer and makes sure that his bolt pistol is switched to metal storm ammunition. A tiny pilot light ignites before the muzzle of his flamer the lenses of his helmet reflecting with a dangerous crimson. His chainsword is ready to be drawn in less than a seconds notice as he uses the hand to hold onto some railing inside the hold of the ship, as he expects a bumpy ride ahead. As Karael doesn't expect any proper atmosphere on the planet, he has decided to still wear his helmet for the moment, reminding himself to tear it off once they enter the facility.

[qechua]

Fully armoured and helmeted, Rafen felt much more at home as the lighter plumeted through the atmosphere, his physiology already producing various cocktails of drugs and hormones in preparation for what was to come.

"I will go where I am most needed, however a single Bolter is unlikely to add much to the distraction party, and if the enemy does notice our split tactics, I would imagine I can add more to the fight there. It may also afford me a chance to gather any samples I can in relative quiet."

[Inspector Valin]

Jaden hums to himself, looking out at the almost pitiful encampment briefly before turning back to Vahn. "I'm tempted to join Karael and Rafen. But if you're going to be drawing the enemy's fire, someone more used to close range combat should be covering you and the Joyless, in case the smugglers have the numbers to swarm your position." It could be Jaden or Aldwin, really. The White Scar doesn't offer any further words, just bowing his head and awaiting Vahn's call.

[Haval]

Aldwin has no preference where he fights, only that he should be effective. 'Fight as you prefer Brother, I would hate to hold back a White Scar without need. I will support the Devastators.'

Spoiler: ooc

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I have a missile launcher and a chainsword, so I'm flexible.

[Toxic Mind]

"If I am with Brother Aldwin, the strike team will need a capable leader. As my second, that task falls to you, Stormseer. If any foes manage to reach us on foot, we have sorely failed in our task."

[Ascension]

You reach an actionable consensus on strategy just in time, as the pilot warns that the Aquila is on final approach to the enemy encampment. As the Devastators and Aldwin are meant to draw the enemy's attention, the Aquila flies on into visual range, cruising in just barely beyond the reach of heavy weapons. It lands with its nose facing the camp, so that the enemy might not note that it's not disgorging its full complement of passengers, and then the rear ramp drops into the gritty grey soil of Zanatov's Harbour. Air rushes out from the lander's passenger compartment with an eerie whistle, stirring small clouds of dust from the planet's surface. A thin remnant of atmosphere has clung to the scoured world, but its pressure is far lower than that of the air inside a sealed spacecraft.

Aldwin, Ogedei, and Vahn:

Disembarking, you find yourself facing the sandbagged breastworks of the enemy camp, with only an open plain, dotted with the random shallow depressions of impact craters, filling the intervening space. This close, you can see detail the Gallant Blade was unable to pick out from orbit... most notably that the camp is decorated with a symbol you recognize from your hypno-indoctrined study of the threats of the Jericho Reach: the cruel cog-and-Chaos-star emblem of the fallen Forge World of Samech. The defenders who even now are taking their places on the breastworks' firing line have the look of old-model Mechanicus Skitarii, gone only a little ragged from the Traitor's inattentiveness to proper maintenance rituals. They carry hellguns linked to backpack power generators, and their heads, beneath black hoods, gleam with the silver of cranial augmentation.

Beyond the line of skitarii loom larger forms. From their size, the way they look to be clad in crude butchers' smocks and executioners' hoods, and their armament of ripper guns and oversized chainswords, you would guess them to be Ogryns, but they have shown sufficient restraint to simply wait in reserve for the moment.

The rangefinders in your helms calculate that you're just over 300 meters out from the breastworks: extreme range for the fallen skitarii's hellguns, and enough to try even your own formidable accuracy. The Aquila takes back to the skies, off to make a more subtle delivery of the other half of your team, leaving you standing, for the moment, alone against what might accurately be termed a horde of heretics.

Let's roll some Initiative. Also, see the OOC thread for a couple notes on combat.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Skitarii: (1d10+3)[6]
Ogryns: (1d10+5)[6]

Rafen, Karael, and Jaden

Spoiler: OOC

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I intended to include your next bit in this update as well, but I'm afraid I've run out of time to do so at this moment. I'll likely get something up for you guys in about six hours, give or take a bit. Thank you for your continued patience!

[Haval]

As he reaches the planet's surface, Aldwin draws his bolter from his side with the ease of decades of practice. Whatever their purpose, it was an unexpected joy to see the minions of the Archenemy here. No enemy deserved putting down more. Switching to more suitable ammunition, Aldwin will scan the enemies lines for priority targets and will fire off a few rounds to get their attention.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Free Action: Ready Bolter
Full Action: Semi Auto with Bolter w/ Kraken Rounds against the Skitarri
Free Action: Awareness
Reaction: Dodge the first attack to connect

Kraken Rounds are +50% to range (150m in a bolter), Pen 8

vs. BS 46 (-10 long range), (+10 Bolter Mastery), (+10 Semi Auto), (Horde size ?)
(1d100)[48]

Damage if any: 1d10+9 X, Pen 8 (roll 1 extra d10 and discard the lowest for tearing)
1st hit
(1d10+9)[11]
2nd hit
(1d10+9)[14]
3rd hit
(1d10+9)[12]

See ooc post as I forgot the rollv tags. Also Bolt Mastery is +2 to any damage caused.

Dodge vs. Ag 41
(1d100)[21]

Awareness test to notice any skitarri with heavier weapons than hellguns
vs. Per 37 (+20 for Heightened Senses and Auto Senses)
(1d100)[65]

Spoiler: Useful Stuff

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WS 47
BS 46
S 42
T 42
Ag 41
Int 41
Per 37
Wp 54
Fel 36

Solo Mode

Wounds: 20
Fate: 2
Initiative: 7

Armour causes Fear (1)

Ammo:
Bolter
Regular: 28
Kraken: 25
Hellfire: 28

Missile Launcher
Frag: 4
Krak: 4

Bolt Pistol: 14