Soldiers and Scumbags IC

[Genth]

After a moment, Zya sighs and follows after Drazz, and once she comes close, raises a hand towards the natives. "Riders! D'you got a moment to chat?"

[Revanus]

Aces and Leroy trail Zya, providing physical and emotional support. Aces casually hefts his heavy bolter up to lean against his shoulder. Muffled beneath his grinning gas mask, Aces knows he won’t be able to conduct biz the way he used to before he was drafted. He’s happy to just look big and let the others do the talking.

[Xenopax]

The first rider greets Zya Cordially but suspiciously. In response to her request of guidance he says:
"We are sorry but we must go back to our families. They are missing us. We have spent the last moon helping the Thunderlords Warriors find their enemy. Without further reward we have no reason to help you too,"
He speaks Gothic Formally but It sounds strange. The other Rider stays quiet.

Spoiler: Drazz

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You can't hear anything important over the buzz of the camp.

[Genth]

Zya frowns, anger evidently blooming on her face, but she nods. "Ok. Well, hope these iron-faced arserods don't treat y'too badly." she says, voice becoming noticeably more coarse as she turns to head back to the chimera.

[Revanus]

Aces shrugs.

”What if we let you keep some of the shiny that you find or kill? They’s our rules—you guide us, you can eat what you kill.”

Aces shifts Piecemaker meaningfully.

“And with our heavy weapons truck, the killin’ be good.”

[PotatoGolem]

Louie sidles up to the Tribals. Evenin' gentlemen. Now, I don' wanna keep you away from yer families long, that's important. An' I'm not gonna beat around the bush. You look like a coupla smart, savvy warriors, you don't need our help findin' the loot. You're smart fellas, you wanna reward up front, an' a reward you shall have. What I have here is real, genuine Frenzon, Imperial make. The good stuff. Makes a boy with two hairs on his chin inta a fighter anna killer, or a warrior inta a hero. When yer families are in danger an' ya need an edge, Frenzon's just the stuff fer ya. Worth its weight in Thrones when life's on the line. Or, if that's not yer fancy, I gotta coupla mono-knives. Good Forge-World make. Keep an edge no matter what- rain, mud, snow, an ork's guts, a heretic's ribs, nothin' blunts 'em. Cut through armor like ya wouldn' believe. Now, as ya may guess, I'm not of a size fer real good knife fightin', so I'm willin' ta trade 'em fer some good infermation.

[XIII]

Uya's curiosity would be held at bay no more. Driven by his two strongest feelings: love of the Emperor and hunger, and against Shea's protests, Uya explored the camp. Imperials everywhere showed their love for the biggest of bosses in different ways, Uya was curious of the Maccabians, their ways of worship, and their food. They seemed like a devout bunch, Uya hoped for the best.

[Caellath]

Failing to catch any juicy rumors or information floating in the air, Drazz ends up hanging close to the squad's ratling in the interest of figuring out whether the squad had anything to gain from the locals.

[Xenopax]

The first rider adamantly refuses and rides away. The second rider stays and introduces himself as Lorak, Son of Kulth.
Uya acquires a Sheet of Metal from the Scrap Yard. He punches a few holes into it and bends it into shape. With a few finishing touches by Shea, it becomes recognizable as a Jannisarry mask. There are mixed reactions from the Maccabeans. Some look upon the Hulking Ogryn with amusement while others glower daggers at it.

As the day breaks, the Forward Outpost springs to life. Companies and platoons shape up into marching formation and begin to head out, and lumbering tank and artillery columns roar to life. Regimental banners are lifted, and the thousands strong regiment begins to break into their separate battle patterns, each heading to their own engagements on the front lines

How do you proceed with your mission?

Spoiler: Info

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Every day the players travel towards a destination have them make an Ordinary (+10) Navigate (Surface) Test. If they fail, they make no progress for that day. Multiple days of failure result in the Squad doubling back around to its own tracks, obviously lost. There are three main terrain types in this section of Virbius: grassland, forest, and mountain. Grassland is the easiest to traverse, but is also the most open. The Squad suffers no navigation penalties, but is easier to spot by Dominate forces. Forest terrain is more difficult to navigate. While in a forested area increase the difficulty of Navigation (Surface) Tests, but allow the Squad an easier time hiding from Dominate Patrols. Mountainous terrain has neither advantage. In mountainous terrain it is both difficult for the Squad to navigate and relatively easy to spot the Squad.

Spoiler: Mission and General Orders

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Primary Mission: Locate and capture or kill Dominate Commander Harvax Scarus.
Secondary Mission: Disrupt Dominate supply lines and destroy any Dominate forces encountered.
Tertiary Mission: Locate the most recent missing squad.
General Orders: Maintain vox silence while behind enemy lines.

You don't know where Scarus is.

Spoiler: Sorry

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Kinda rushed right now so I couldn't get a proper post up. Sorry. I'll fix it once I have time.

[Genth]

Zya is sitting on top of the Chimera when the others arrive, lho-stick sticking out from behind her mask, the smoke billowing from around the seal. In her hands, a small dataslate copied from the general's map. "Mornin' mutts" she drawls as she sees the others approach, pulling down her mask and leaping onto the ground. "Been looking at the OZ, I think we take the chimera through the forest. Less chance of a firefight there. Get to the mountains, follow along 'til we find a likely lookin' track for their supplies."

[Revanus]

Aces shrugs.

”All due respect, but the forest is full of Orks. Probably. We wouldn’t even know until it’s too late, because we won’t be able to see a thing.

It’s bad enough to fight Orks—but you want as much warning as possible. In a forest, even the dumbest orks get to be right sneaky, ‘cause the trees do all the sneakin’ for them. Even worse, we know we gotta be on the lookout for kommandos—those bastards will be like frakin’ green ghosts. And don’t get me started on the Kernel—he’s probably got a booby trap watin’ for us in every tree. The forest is even green, like Orks.

Nah, I say we take the plains. We might get shot to pieces by the Sevs, but at least we’ll be able to spot the Orks.”

Leroy shakes his head.

”What if the loot is better in the forest? Plus, this chimera’s so loud, if there are any Orks, they’ll probably just thing we’re friendlies. See Aces? We can be sneaky, too.”

Leroy offer a wink at the rest of the group, but fails to duck Aces’ slap to the back of his head.

”Don’t be an idiot, Squigs. Orks kill friendlies all the time.”

[XIII]

Uya fiddled with his kit, checking and re-checking his ripper gun, more out of forgetfulness than vigilance. "Maybe we find friends first. Dey lost or ded, maybe has stuff for us, maybe has info on da bad guys. Be nice to save friends." Shea patted the ogryn's scarred up and hairy forearm, "Thats a nice thing to think, but you know sometimes we can't help everyone. It sure would motivate the big guy though", the last part said louder for the benefit of the group.

[Caellath]

Scrapper seemed to want to say something... "Forest." It was made much easier when he could follow his more experienced pal's lead. "Yea, forest."

"I'm not buyin' this crap 'bout orks. Always complainin' about them innit? Forest's the best path. We get some nature all over the Chimera an' it's camo'd. We hear somthin', we stop, listen harder, an' the camo does work."

[Revanus]

Aces snorts derisively.

”Best path to an ork ambush and a messy death. Your average Ork will shoot at anything that makes a loud noise. Don’t matter if they can see ya or just spray blindly—it’s all the same to ‘em.

But if it’s kommandos in the forest—we won’t hear a thing until the bombs go off. Ol’ Konrad is treatin’ that forest like his personal hunting grounds, no joke, cuz.”

[Genth]

"Then *you* go prancin' off to the plains and get y'head shot off by a Dominate marksman. We're going through the forest, Aces. Don't like it then frak off and let the commissar catch you." Zya replies, evidently annoyed at the man's blathering. "Look, our job is to find this ******** of a general and frak him. We 'aint gonna do that by piddlin' halfway across the continent to find the last buggers who tried. We go through the forest, do it the way I've said, best way to find the bugger."

Spoiler: Sorry

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Apologies for pinging the filter Mods, will be more euphemistic ^_^

[Caellath]

"Ya want the plains then take 'em. On those feetsies. I repaired the Chimera, I'm drivin' it, I say we go down the forest. End o' story." Drazz said, hopefully putting an end to any dissent from the ork-obsessed trooper.

[Revanus]

Aces glances back between the stormtrooper and the operator, before hanging his head letting out an exaggerated, gas-mask muffled sigh.

”...tried to tell ‘em...”

Aces trudges onto the chimera, and immediately gets to work trying to find the optimum firing port and angle for bracing his heavy bolter.

[PotatoGolem]

Louie sidles up to the group looking studiously nonchalant.

Gentlemen! Good to see you on this fine day! Apropos of nothing, I don't suppose that the chimera is good to go, by any chance? Like right now immediately go? Just an idle question. I'm certainly enjoying my cross-cultural learning here. Did you know that the Maccabeans have some interesting beliefs and practices concerning drug use and sleeping with other people's wives? Fascinating stuff. I'll tell you all about it when we get the frak out of here RIGHT NOW.

Have we decided on a route yet? I scouted ahead and there's clearly only one way to go. Zya was right, our only safe way is that way Zya was just talking about, so that's decided, nothing keeping us here now! Let's go do our duty to the Emperor!

He vanishes into the APC.

[Caellath]

What was what about sleeping with other people's wives? They were in a Guard encampment among soldiers, not some paradise world resort with ample opportunity for adultery. There was only one reasonable explanation for the ratling's odd behavior.

"I think Louie's real high on somethin'." Drazz pointed out as he got inside the Chimera with Scrapper in tow. They'd try to get some improvised camo netting as soon as they got to the forest's outskirts.

[XIII]

Uya gathered his things and stood up, walking past the arguing and otherwise noisy little people, stomping his feet. "Mean n' dumb. Like orks. Uya not ork, Uya ogryn. Find friends. If you lost, Uya come get you." Shea sighed, staying put, knowing when to leave the upset ogryn alone. Uya leaned against the chimera, back to the group, causing it to groan slightly. He waited impatiently for a decision to be made, not expecting his opinion to be taken seriously.

[Xenopax]

Your squad takes to the jungle path. With the help of Lorak, Navigation is a piece of cake. You trace along the mountain base but don't see anything Important for most of your journey. Zya notices that your group is just an hour away from the last known relocation of the Missing Squad and informs the rest of you. You drive up to the point where radio contact was lost and get out of the vehicle and Before you lay the battered and broken remains of a Chimera APC. The Chimera is split down the middle, its two halves sunk deep into the mud. Along the breach, the metal is twisted, corroded, and blackened. The corpses of Guardsmen litter the area, some in pieces and some still clutching their weapons. It is a grisly sight.

Spoiler

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+0 CL Spinward Front to recognize the Weaponry used.
+10 Medicae for examination of the bodies
+0 FL Xenos for some other helpful info
+10 Awareness to search
+40 tech use if you pass the Search
and if you guys want to loot anything be my guest. Not much to find though other than standard Weaponry and Armor but if you roll high enough there may or may not be a special item.

[Caellath]

During their short trip, Drazz had noticed a group of orks, warned the team about it, then simply drove past them since they were blissfully unaware of their presence. Their mission didn't include the need to fight greenskins, even if it was useful to know there were some around.

Upon finding the scene of carnage, the techie started to look around for clues and loot.

[PotatoGolem]

Louie spends much of the trip with his head out the hatch, scanning for danger. He jumps out when they reach the ambush site, rifling around for loot and clues as to what attacked the patrol.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Awareness (sight) for loot and clues: (1d100)[50] vs 62 (42+10 difficulty +10 sight-based)

Awareness (smell) to see if he can smell anything unusual from the attackers or their weapons: (1d100)[40] vs 62 (42+10 difficulty +10 smell-based)

[XIII]

Uya had hoped this would be a rescue, not this. But he wasn't so stupid that he didn't realize that this was a possibility, but it still saddened him. Uya poked around, double checking to make sure the guardsmen were indeed dead. Maybe there would be some food.

[Revanus]

Aces hops out of the Chimera warily. His knuckles are white as they grip the heavy bolter, wary of a kommando ambush but not so wary as to not try and nab some proper guardsman armor.

When Drazz announced that Orks were spotted in the area, Aces found it surprisingly relieving. It’s a tough burden to be the only one to know the truth and not be believed. Now that everyone was on the same page, ork-wise, Aces felt better. That is, until he remembered there were Orks around.

”...told you there were Orks in the forest. This is ork work, for sure. Keep yer eyes peeled for traps n stuff—this might be the work of kommandos, and we don’t want to be ambushed rummaging through the shiny, ya dig?”

Aces casts a glance over the wreckage, keeping an eye out for some better flak armor than his flimsy vest. If nothing turns up, he’ll eagerly hop back in the Chimera— better than being caught in the open with Orks around.

Spoiler: Awareness:

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if needed to spot flak armor that can be looted: (1d100)[57] vs 14 + modifiers

[Genth]

As Zya picks through the wreckage, she bends down to pick up a dataslate. "Drazz, come an' have a look at this!" she calls out, waving down the Operator and handing over the slate. "Reckon' you can crack this one open?" she asks.

[Caellath]

"Sure thing." Drazz received the data-slate and checked it for damage and password-locking before working on unlocking the information within.

While looting, Drazz also decided to collect the cognomens to prove they'd found the missing squad. The higher-ups would probably react badly to severed fingers (from the ones who still had them) for digital recognition.

[PotatoGolem]

Louie looks around for a while, then stops, his nose twitching. He paces around for a moment and grins. Mouse, get over here an' help me dig. Aces, I may have a present for ya... He dives into the mud and wreckage, rummaging around. Louie and Mouse reemerge, Louie with a rocket launcher and Mouse overburdened by rockets. He walks up to Aces with a wide grin and hands him the launcher. Merry early Sanguinalia, ya big goon. Don' say ol' Lou never gets ya nuffin nice. An' don' waste it on some ork on a bike neither.

[Revanus]

Aces’ eyes widen beneath his mask. He braces his heavy bolter vertically against his shoulder, freeing up another hand to bear-handle the missile launcher.

”NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ ‘BOUT! Yo Squigs, go grab ‘em extra missiles. This is right shiny to the mega! Some hyped up biz, no doubt. Golden to the core, ya hear?!”

Aces continues on in this manner for a bit, climbing back into the Chimera and affectionately patting the missile tube as Leroy breaks out his Primer and begins to read up on the basics of missile weapon safety and operation.

[Xenopax]

Drazz fixes up the dataslate and it flickers to life. After a few minutes of browsing through all the meaningless articles, he finds something useful.

Spoiler: Something Useful

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“This is Sergeant Arus Illaran of the 37th Maccabian Janissaries, Mission Log 512.01.32. Unauthorized access of this mission log is a crime against the Imperium, the punishment for which shall be death. It is week three of our foray into Severan Dominate territory. Minimal casualties, food and fuel reserves nominal. Still no sign of our target, but our most recent recon has established the movements of a regular supply convoy that is likely refitting the General’s base. While we do not know the schedule of the convoy, our trackers have mapped what we believe to be its supply route, and we are simply waiting for its next appearance. We will ambush this convoy, use it to pinpoint the General’s location, eliminate him, and return to our Regiment as heroes. The Emperor Protects! End of log.”

After the Cognomen tags are collected, you discover that only out of a 15 man squad only ten bodies are present.

Spoiler: If you passed

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Spoiler: Medicae

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Small crystalline shards and wicked gashes were how these Guardsmen met their end. Definetly not standard weaponry.

Spoiler: Lore (Spinward Front)

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The Chimera was attacked with a Heat Lance, a punishing combination of melta and high-yield laser that split the APC in two.

Spoiler: FL (Xenos)

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One Degree of Success: This weaponry is obviously of xenos origin. Two or More Degrees of Success: This type of weaponry is often used by the Eldar. It may have been acquired by the Severan Dominate, or they may be consorting with xenos themselves. Five or More Degrees of Success: This weaponry is utilized by a sect of black-clad Eldar who are rumoured to be even more wicked then the rest of their kin. Utilizing this weaponry is an extreme heresy, and if the Severan Dominate is actually in league with these xenos, then their crimes against the God-Emperor are multiplied still further.